


Plus More

by SushiOwl



Series: Stilinski-Hale Family [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babies, Birthday, Christmas, Cute Kids, Disney World & Disneyland, F/M, Halloween, Holidays!, Horses, Kid Fic, Lots of Babies, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Original Character(s), Pregnancy, Sex in later chapters, The Hale Pack - Freeform, Werebabies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2014-02-17
Packaged: 2017-12-28 17:03:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 74,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SushiOwl/pseuds/SushiOwl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The lives and loves of the Stilinski-Hale family and the pack that surrounds them.</p><p>
  <b>This work has been abandoned.</b>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta read by [WhatTheHale](http://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthehale).
> 
> My buddy, [Booked-Equestrian](http://archiveofourown.org/users/bookedequestrian), gave me lots of ideas for this fic. She practically co-wrote it. xD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First few months to three years of the lives of the twins. Lots of exciting things happen. More kids join the pack. A new bond is formed.

"Did you read the instructions for this thing?" Derek asked as he touched and lightly tugged at the contraption in Stiles's hand. "You didn't buy it off a blanket on a street corner, right?"

"Ha ha," Stiles replied, before he stuck his tongue out at his husband. "No, I bought it at a baby store. Parents Weekly swears by it. They say it's great for werewolf parents who want to bond with their babies."

"Whatever you say," Derek said, dropping the straps from his hands and tilting his head at it.

Stiles looked down at the Pup Carrier he'd bought. By itself it looked like a complicated puzzle, but the picture on the box showed a baby sling fitted to a wolf's body. It was for a parent that wanted to go on a run (more like a brisk trot) and wanted to take a baby that was too young to shift with them. He had bought the one for twins.

Talia and Johnnie were three months old, and Stiles had stayed home with them on full moon nights since Derek was a big important alpha pack leader and had responsibilities. Stiles wanted to run around and be silly, so he was making Derek wear the sling this time. They would alternate after that. Or, at least, that was Stiles's plan. Derek was dubious.

"Go on and shift," Stiles told him with a smile, and his mate narrowed his eyes a little. "Let's see if it fits."

Derek glanced at the playpen they were sitting next to, where the babies were on their backs, playing with their toes or gumming their fingers. He seemed to wilt in the face of their cuteness. He shifted, body realigning until he was a tall black wolf. When Stiles smiled as him, he ducked his head so Stiles could slip a strap around his neck.

Stiles moved around his exceedingly patient husband, putting things in place, tightening them and tugging on them to make sure they wouldn't come undone. "Is it too tight?" he asked, and Derek shook his large head. Stiles had to smile, because no matter how big and intimidating Derek's black as night wolf form was, he looked absolutely adorable in a baby sling.

“I love you, you big furry man-beast,” Stiles told him, wrapping his arms around Derek's neck, his fingers barely touching on the other side. Derek leaned into him a little, nuzzling at his side. Stiles could only smile, scratching his nails down between Derek's shoulders and earning a full body shudder for his effort. He continued scratching down, and Derek dropped his head, eyes closing as his huge black tail swished. 

“Someday I'll get you to thump your foot,” Stiles promised, and Derek peered at him through the corner of his eyes, irises going from green to red for a second as if to say 'yeah, right, you just try.' Stiles just cupped that wolf's jaw and leaned over to give him a kiss right on the snout. 

They both looked over when they heard a howl. The run must have been starting already. Stiles lifted up onto his knees and picked up their daughter. She burbled at them as he put her in one of the available harnesses that was positioned just behind Derek's shoulder. She made an interested noise, grabbing handfuls of black fur and kicking her little feet against her dad's ribs. Derek didn't seem to mind at all, instead turning his head to nose her cheek gently. She cooed happily.

Johnnie made a noise of discontent when Stiles picked him up, apparently annoyed at being interrupted when he'd been trying to pull his footie pajamas off by the toes. He only got more agitated when he was placed in the harness, pushing at Derek's side as best he could and leaning into the cushioned support against his back. He gave a few stubborn hiccups when Derek nosed him, leaning away. 

“Oh, there, there, little man,” Stiles told Johnnie, kissing the top of his head. “You'll like this, I swear.” Johnnie made a face like he would have crossed his arms and gone 'hmph' if he were older and had the coordination. Stiles glanced at Talia, who was very happily pushing and pulling at the fur under her little hands like she was trying to read her future in the patterns she was making.

There was yet another howl, this one a question, and Stiles stood up with another brush against his son's cheek. “C'mon,” he told his mate, moving toward the front door. He opened it and waited, pressing his lips in a line when he saw Derek walking extra slow, glancing continuously at the twins hanging on his sides. “They'll be okay,” Stiles told him when Derek finally made it onto the porch. “The box said that the sling could handle a full run.” Derek gave him a look, and Stiles held his hands up. “Not that you're going to run with our babies. I'm just saying you can walk normally.” At Derek's huff, he smiled and closed the door.

Stiles dropped into his wolf form and shook himself, taking a deep breath of the full moon charged air and letting his tongue lull out of his mouth in happiness. It had been nearly a year since he'd been able to shift, and he was fully prepared to enjoy every second of it as Derek played Mr Mom. He plopped down on his butt and lifted his head in a howl to announce to the rest of the wolves in the run that the Stilinski-Hales were out and about. A few moments after he heard two answering howls that were unmistakably Scott and Allison, signaling their position.

Stiles glanced at his mate, who was gazing him rather intensely. “What?” Stiles asked him with a tilt of his head.

“I missed your wolf form,” Derek replied, stepping closer and bumping their noses together.

“You always tell me my wolf form is the silliest thing you've ever seen,” Stiles told him, dipping his head to rub it against his mate's broad chest.

“That doesn't mean I can't miss it.” Perfect Derek logic right there.

Stiles had to agree he made an interesting wolf. He was a dark gray over most of his body with ruddy red around his ears and in a crescent around his cheeks. The underside of his tail and hairs on the backs of his haunches were also red, along with his paws. His chest and belly were white, and so was one (just one) of his front toes. He had a feeling that their children would have interesting fur as well, and he couldn't wait to see them.

Little Johnnie had stopped making noises. Instead he was looking at Stiles with a true childlike wonderment. Stiles nudged his son's cheek with his nose, and Johnnie gave him a toothless smile. “What adorable mood swings you have,” Stiles told the little boy even though he wouldn't be able to hear or respond on the wolf's wavelength yet.

“Don't encourage him,” Derek told him mildly, though the look in his eyes said that he was pleased their son had calmed down. 

“How can I not?” Stiles asked, giving Johnnie's ear a little lick, which earned him a happy squeak. Stiles pulled away, before he turned toward the trees and trotted down the steps. “Let's go meet the others,” He said, looking back at his mate and babies. Derek took the steps with caution, before checking to make sure that the babies hadn't turned upside down or something. Stiles had to laugh, and Derek just snorted at him. 

Stiles and Derek trotted into the trees, and when that didn't dislodge the babies from the sling, they moved into a smooth lope. This pace made Talia squeal with joy, especially when Derek leapt over a fallen tree. Stiles was sure she even clapped once. Johnnie didn't seem to mind it. He was leaning back in his harness, looking around at the trees and listening to the sounds of the forest with awe in his big eyes.

The first of the pack they saw were Scott and Allison, accompanied by a very excited little Zoe. Scott was a black wolf with a brown underbelly, and his black fur had a blue sheen to it where the light hit it, unlike Derek's black fur that seemed to absorb light like a shadow. Allison was a warm reddish brown with white under her chin, over her cheeks and chest. Zoe was growing into her colors, black with red tipped ears, red front paws and back legs with a silver chest.

Scott was attached to Zoe by a halter around his chest. He was running in circles, leaping and rolling around as Zoe either chased or ran from him. The cute little wolf then got distracted by an especially interesting bug, racing after it then falling on her butt when she reached the end of the puppy leash. This was her first run, as Scott had told him over the phone the day before, and the three-year-old was apparently enjoying the hell out of it.

“Oh, you brought the twins,” Allison said as she looked over when Stiles and Derek came into the small clearing. She trotted over to them, touching noses with Derek and bumping heads with Stiles before she inspected the baby sling. “I saw an advertisement for this a couple weeks ago. I wish it had existed when Zoe was little.” Talia reached out and grabbed her ear, so she tilted her head for the little girl. “Hello, sweetheart, you look like you're having fun.”

“She enjoys it when I run,” Derek told Allison as he watched the interaction.

“So far, the twins have been very easily amused,” Stiles remarked as he moved over to Scott, hopping over Zoe as she tried to run full tilt into his legs. “Are you enjoying the run, ZoZo?” he asked the little girl.

“Moth!” was Zoe's reply as she leapt into the air and tried to catch it in her maw.

“She's trying her best to exhaust me,” Scott said as he sat down and watched Zoe bound around, tripping over paws that were still too big for her. “And she's succeeding.”

“Yay, parenting,” Stiles replied with a wolfish grin. He watched as Zoe tried to climb her father's back, and Scott just sat there and took it.

“Tell me about it,” Scott said as he tilted his head away when Zoe snapped at his ear with her tiny canines then slid right off his back with a yelp. Scott lifted a big paw and set it on her back, and she wriggled around madly trying to get away.

“I can't wait until Talia and Johnnie finally shift,” Stiles told his friend, glancing over where Derek and Allison were quietly talking, probably about alpha things. “They're going to be so cute.”

“And you'll never be able to wrangle them ever again,” Scott said as Zoe got out from under his paw and started attacking his tail. “I do not evny you in having twice the nightmare that Zoe was.” He turned and looked at her as she play growled and slobbered all over his tail. “Is.”

“What are you talking about?” Stiles said with a laugh. “My babies are perfect little angels.” 

Johnnie picked that moment to start crying, and Stiles wilted before he stood up to go and console him. Scott got up too, but the moment he tried to take a step forward he flopped to the ground, ass over ears, because Zoe had somehow managed to tied his front paws together. At least that made Johnnie giggle.

###### 

Stiles wondered if there were funerals for cars. His Jeep had finally bit the dust one morning when he was going to go pick up some lunch. It had chugged to a start then gave a horrible whine and clunking then shuttered to death. Stiles had hugged the steering wheel and moaned about his poor baby as Derek stuck his head out of the front door curiously. 

Derek's Camaro wasn't much better for them, although it still ran perfectly. Sticking a pair of baby seats in its cramped back seat was getting old fast. And the Camaro's trunk was not equipped to handle the amount of groceries they bought each week. Derek would probably defend his sleek black car to his dying breath, but Stiles was putting his foot down.

It was time to get a family car. 

Stiles had done plenty of research prior to going to the dealership, looking up the top family cars. Derek just mumbled something about wanted a Chevrolet, because he was just stubborn like that. Stiles was determined to get something in any other color but black, and he would argue his mate into the ground if he had to. Red would be a nice color, but Derek kind of growled at the notion.

Stiles was pushing the twin stroller around the lobby of the dealership, looking at the show cars as Derek talked to a representative. He wasn't particularly impressed with the sedans or the crossovers, even though they had been raved about online. He stood next to the Chevrolet Traverse that Derek had mentioned liking, his lip curling up a little. “What do you two think?” he asked the children, leaning over the stroller handle to look at them. They were asleep, so they had no opinions.

Finally Stiles got to the Toyota Prius, which was in a beautiful red and had a hatchback, something he was really interested in. He opened the driver's side door and got in, testing the seat, leg and head room. Derek would probably like it, since he preferred to lean back and stretch out his long legs while driving with one hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. It used to drive Stiles bananas, especially when the kids were born and he was driving like his car was a low rider. But he had gotten used to it, because Derek had the reflexes of a cat and would never do anything to put his family in harm's way.

The trunk space of the Prius was awesome. Stiles jumped in to crawl around and check, calculating how many bags they could fit in it. The back seat was nice and spacious too. And the car had back doors, which was one addition that even Derek couldn't argue as being in favor of the Camaro. He loved the Prius. He wanted it. 

“Derek,” Stiles called as he climbed out of the backseat of the car and beamed at his mate.

Derek turned his head, took one look at the car and frowned. “No,” he said, turning back to the dealer.

“What?” Stiles whined at him, before he took hold of the stroller and wheeled the twins over to Derek and the dealer. “Why?” he asked, interrupting their conversation.

Derek frowned further, but the dealer seemed a bit amused. “Because,” Derek said simply.

“Because is not an answer,” Stiles told him, making a face. “What are you, twelve?”

“Stiles—“

“If you say it's because it's not American made, I'm going to bop you on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.” Stiles crossed his arms. 

The dealer disguised his chuckle with a cough. “Would you perhaps like to give it a test drive, sir?” he suggested, and Derek narrowed his eyes at him.

“Yeah, you can't say you don't like it if you haven't driven it. I'll watch the kids, and you can go do a loop or three on the highway.” Stiles grinned at his mate and made a dismissive hand gesture.

Derek looked like he was going to refuse for a second and be petulant, but finally he rolled his eyes up in the true sassy Hale fashion. “Fine,” he said, relenting. “I'll give it a test drive.”

“I'll go get a set of keys,” the dealer said, smiling brightly as if he could taste his commission.

Stiles waited in the lobby, watching as Derek and the dealer drove a test Prius off the lot. That one was black, which probably meant Derek had picked it. Stiles sat in a nice comfortable chair and played peek-a-boo with a now awake Johnnie, wondering if Derek was seething and the dealer was just rambling off the perks of having a hybrid.

When Derek got back with the dealer in tow, Stiles stood up and took in his mate's cagey facial expression. “Did you like it?” he asked with a smile and a tilt of his head. Derek flicked his eyes away and he pushed his lips to one side. “You did, didn't you?” It was adorable that Derek had obviously approved of the Prius's drive ability but was childishly sticking to his guns.

“I don't want a red car,” Derek finally said.

Stiles snorted, putting his hands on his hips. “I don't want a black car.” He and Derek glared at each other for a minute.

“I hear canary yellow is very in right now,” the dealer suggested, and he grinned when both Derek and Stiles made comically horrified faces.

They went with blue.

###### 

At five months old, the twins were basically rolly pollies. They couldn't quite crawl yet, but they did a lot of rolling back and forth on their backs. When sat up, they would stay for a few moments before tumbling to one side and then onto their stomachs. If held up on their feet, they would spastically kick their legs like they were trying to lift off into space. 

Derek thought his babies were geniuses. He was constantly comparing their progress to the guidelines in the development books he had read. Most of them said the babies would start to crawl around by eight months. Derek anticipated that Talia and Johnnie would be doing so by six months. He could tell they were trying every time they were on their bellies and they lifted up on their arms, doing an unsteady kind of sway before plopping back down.

That was what Talia was doing one afternoon as Derek and Stiles were sitting on the living room floor, their legs spread out and their feet hooked together so that their legs made a kind of diamond shape around the twins. Their little girl kept pushing up on her hands to peer over their legs like there was a great big exciting world out there.

Johnnie was asleep on his stomach with his face pressed against the side of Derek's knee. He was so cute that Derek wanted to pick him up and hold him against his chest, but he didn't because he didn't want to disturb his slumber.

Stiles was leaning back on his hands, looking so relaxed and content that Derek would have covered him in kisses and pinned him to the ground if there weren't two babies between them. "I have never had a client so confused about what they want before," Stiles was saying as he languidly leaned his ear against his shoulder. "But also they're really bossy. I had to present five different versions of teal for the sidebar of their front page, and they kept insisting they weren't vibrant enough. I was like, 'Look, if I make it anymore vibrant, it's going to be neon. Do you want to blind your customers?' Guh." 

Stiles dropped his head back to groan at the ceiling. "This is why Danny is supposed to deal with customer relations. But he's on his honeymoon." 

Derek chuckled at that but didn't comment. That engagement had been a long time coming, and the only person that had been surprised when Ethan proposed had been Danny. They had only been together for over a decade.

"I'm happy for him," Stiles continued. "But I wish he would come back and be all unfazed and neutral at these people like he's so good at. I end up all snappish and bitey." Stiles rolled his eyes and pursed his lips. "You've seen the state of my stress ball."

"You mean your chew toy?" Derek remarked with a smirk, and Stiles stuck his tongue out at him.

"Is your work any less stressful? How's that one two story in the Applegate neighborhood coming along?" Stiles asked, rocking his foot against Derek's.

Derek immediately groaned, gladly taking his turn to complain. "I never thought I would have to explain why marble is more expensive than linoleum to someone. I want to jab a flathead screwdriver in my ear every time these people ask me their stupid questions." He lifted his hands to rub at his eyes. “You'd think someone with so much expendable cash would figure out what they want beforehand.” He recalled telling them that no, a tile and hardwood mash up would not look edgy, just stupid. It would also be wasteful as hell.

He was about to tell Stiles about the debacle with the grout in the bathroom when he was interrupted by a tiny kitten sneeze and looked down to find not Johnnie, but a little wolf pup in a ducky onesie. Derek was not proud of the sound that left his mouth at the sheer cuteness of the brown cub, but Stiles was squealing right alongside him. 

“Oh, hello cutie,” Stiles said as he reached over to pick up their son, pulling him against his shoulder and rubbing at his back. “Who's the cutest little wolf in the world, hm?” He chuckled as Johnnie snuffled noisily at his neck. 

Derek couldn't seem to stop grinning. “He's not the only cute little wolf,” he told him, before he reached over and grabbed Talia, bringing her to sit just in front of him. She leaned her head back against his belly, making a cooing sound and smiling brightly up at him. “Yeah, you're going to be super cute, aren't you, princess?”

“It's not a competition,” Stiles said, before he turned his head as Johnnie shifted back to his human form. He looked like he was about to say something before his nostrils flared and he made a face. “And now someone needs to be changed.” He got his legs under him and got up, moving around Derek to the bathroom where they kept one of about ten stashes of diapers and changing supplies.

Derek laughed loudly at that, unable to help himself. “Well, your son knows how to make his first shift memorable.” He watched Stiles disappear through the door.

“Why is he my son when he's gross?” Stiles called back.

Derek laughed further, shaking his head and looking down at his daughter, who was still staring up at him. “What color is your wolf going to be, hm, little lady?” he asked her, turning her around so that she was facing him. She just sat there for a second before flopping back on her back and spreading her limbs out while squeaking like she just did an amazing magic trick. He smiled at her, forever charmed.

Leaning over her, he hid his face behind his hands. “Where am I?” he asked her, and she cooed at him in confusion. He pulled his hands apart quickly, and she looked at him in surprise, eyes wide and mouth in an 'o'. “Here I am,” he told her, smiling big, and she squealed, kicking her feet.

“How on Earth does all of that come out of you?” came Stiles's voice from the bathroom.

Derek snorted, leaning over his daughter. “Your brother is a hearty eater,” he told her in a whisper, as if it were a secret. She giggled and reached for him, so he caught her hands with his. 

“Hey, baby girl, want to see a trick?” he asked her, before he got on all fours above her. “Watch closely.” He shook himself, bones realigning and fur sprouting over his body as he shifted into his large black wolf form. 

Talia stared for a second as if wondering where her daddy went, before she shrieked happily, reaching for him. Derek bent his head down, sniffing along her face, and she pawed at his snout. He gave her a lick, and she squeaked, before she stuck her finger in his nose.

Derek huffed as he lifted up, shaking his head then licking his nose. That was a sensation he never thought he'd feel. Talia was still reaching for him, so he leaned down and nosed her shoulder until he managed to lift her up into a sitting position, then curled around her with his neck against her back and his paw over her legs. She wriggling against him a little bit before settling against his fur. By the time Stiles came out of the bathroom with Johnnie in his arms, Talia was asleep, her soft, cute little breaths right under his ear. 

Stiles stopped, blinking at the display, before he smiled. “Is it wolfy nap time?” he asked, and Derek just squinted at him in a joyful affirmative. Stiles got down on the ground, setting Johnnie in a similar position against his neck before shifting into his wolf form too, his nose right next to Derek's.

Derek closed his eyes and just listened, picking out Johnnie's fluttering heartbeat as he played in Stiles's fur. Talia's was slower as she dozed, snoring ever so softly. Then there was Stiles's heart, a steady, strong beat that he'd listened to countless nights as he fell asleep. It made him sigh, relaxing every muscle in his body and feeling the whole world become those three hearts.

###### 

"They're really getting around now, aren't they?" Scott asked as held Johnnie in his lap while Talia motored about in the space between his and Stiles's legs.

Stiles just grinned, grabbing his little girl and leaning in to kiss her cheek, which earned a squeak and a chubby hand swat. The twins were just past seven months now, and they were crawling around like they were trying out for the baby Olympics. 

"They're unstoppable," Stiles told him as Talia wriggled around in his arms. She probably wanted her other daddy. Derek and Allison were in the dining room, planning the run for this month. If Stiles leaned, he could see Zoe perched on Derek's knee, coloring as the adults talked.

"Has Talia shifted yet?" Scott asked, smiling down at the little boy in his lap, who was playing with his fingers.

"Not yet. Johnnie only shifted the once."

"Zoe didn't have any control of it until she was almost two, so I wouldn't worry about it." Scott leaned down and nibbled at Johnnie's ear with his lips, and the baby squealed like it was the best thing ever.

"I just want to know what color she is, y'know?" Stiles said as Talia flopped kind of boneless into the concave of his folded legs. She yawned, before she made a face when he booped her little nose.

"I bet she'll take after Derek," Scott said.

"I don't know. She has my eyes." Stiles shrugged.

The twins's eyes finally changed from pale blue to the colors they would have for the rest of their lives. Johnnie's were Derek's green while Talia's were dark brown. She had Stiles's moles too, a few on her shoulders and back to join the Marilyn Monroe beauty mark on her face. Johnnie was birthmark free as far as they had found.

Scott went on to talk about his job, mostly about the kittens since he had a serious soft spot for all things small and furry. Deaton had retired a couple years back and was now traveling the world, leaving the veterinary practice to Scott. He had managed not to burn the place to the ground, and he even had his own high school assistant.

As he was talking, the sun moved out from behind the clouds and shone in through the large window they were sitting near. They both looked over, squinting at the brightness, before they glanced at each other then at the babies. Matching mischievous smiles came onto their faces, and they lifted the twins up toward the sun's rays before beginning to sing. Badly.

"Naaaaaaaah segunaaaaaaah babageesteee mabaaaaa!"

Scott and Stiles started to laugh, pulling the confused babies to their chests. This was proof that parenthood had not cured them of their silliness.

"What the hell is that?" came Derek's voice from the dining room.

"Oh God," Allison said, sounding like she was regretting all of her life choices. "It's that song from The Lion King."

Stiles pressed his face in Talia's hair, managing to control his laughter long enough to hold his daughter up again and sing off key. "From the day we arrive on this planet and, blinking, step into the sun."

"There is more to seen than can ever be seen," Scott pitched in, and Johnnie looked very confused in his hands. "More to do than ever be done."

They paused, looking at each other before flicking their eyes around. It had been a while since Stiles had seen the movie, so he couldn't remember much of the song. He hummed the tune, and Scott joined in, lifting a shoulder in a shrug.

"Something, something," Stiles sang, and Talia wasn't amused, starting to kick her feet. "But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky keeps great and small on the endless ground--"

"Round," Scott corrected.

Then they both took a big breath, tilting their heads back. "In the circle of liiiiiiife!"

"It wasn't funny when you did it with Zoe. It's not funny now!" Allison called to them as said little girl came running into the room, squealing for them to do it again.

"In the ciiiircle," they laughed out, barely even singing now. "The circle of liiiiife!"

###### 

Talia's canines were coming in, which meant she was chewing on everything. Toys, teething rings and fingers were all fair game. Johnnie's mouth was still teeth free, but he was more talkative than his sister. He spoke baby language, but he would babble to anyone who would listen.

Stiles and Derek had a running bet. Stiles wanted the little ones to say 'papa,' while Derek had claimed the obviously easier 'dada.'

Cheerios had just been added to the menu for the twins. It was Johnnie's favorite thing to push the little cereal rings around his high chair table, while Talia used them as projectiles. She did the same with her sippy cup while Johnnie was perfectly happy to drain his.

Talia was not transitioning from bottle to sippy cup very well. She always made faces and shrank away from it when it was offered to her. Derek gave in to her pitiful noises easily, while Stiles was willing to sit with her for an hour until she relented and drank. What she was very willing to do was inhale applesauce like it was going out of style.

Derek was spoon feeding the little girl her favorite food, smiling at her enthusiasm. "Talia, can you say 'dada' for me?" he asked her as he drew back the spoon. She stared at him for a second, before she pawed at the little bowl of applesauce he was holding. "Come on," he said, offering her another bite. "It's really easy, just—Talia, give that back." The little girl had clamped her mouth down hard, refusing to let go of the soft plastic spoon. "Young lady." She made a noise, and his eyes popped wide. "Did you just _growl_ at me?"

Releasing the spoon, Derek turned to look at Stiles, who was snickering into the back of one hand, the other full of Cheerios. "She growled at me," Derek told him, shocked and totally proud at the same time. He looked back at Talia, and she was waving the spoon around like a sword.

"Definitely your daughter," Stiles remarked, looking back at Johnnie who was stuffing his face with Cheerios. Stiles pushed the ones that were out of his reach closer to him.

Derek watched, before he jerked as the plastic spoon hit him in the face. He managed to catch it before it hit the ground, and he turned to his daughter, who was smiling. "You're a bit impatient, aren't you?" She just made a sound like 'uh!' and pounded her little hands against the table, so he offered her another spoonful of applesauce. She accepted it happily.

After Stiles managed to convince Talia that the sippy cup wasn't going to bite her and the twins were sufficiently fed and burped, they all moved into the living room. The kids were put in the playpen, and Derek sat down on the floor to watch them as Stiles went to change.

It was date night. It would be the first date they had been on since the kids were born, and they were both very excited about it. Melissa was coming over with Zoe, and they were all going to watch Disney movies while Derek and Stiles went to the movies then dinner. Melissa said she was excited to spend time with all of her grandbabies, which had made Stiles all smiles.

"Okay, kiddos, let's try this again," Derek told his little ones as they sat and stared at him. "Repeat after me. Dada." They continued to stare unblinkingly at him. "It's two syllables, guys. Dada. Daaaada. Dada?" Talia just turned and crawled off while Johnnie rolled onto his back and pulled at his booties. "I have a feeling you two are not putting as much effort into this as you should be," he deadpanned.

"How do I look?"

Derek glanced over and was not prepared for what he saw. Stiles was wearing a pale blue button down with a black vest and tight black jeans. It made him all sharp angles and long lines, and Derek's mouth went dry at the sight.

Stiles took the silence as exactly what it wasn't, getting self-conscious. "It's too much, isn't it?" He asked, taking a step back and toward the stairs to their room. 

Derek was up like a shot, moving over to them. "No, no it's..." He wrapped his arms around Stiles's middle, lacing his fingers over the small of his back. "You look great."

"You sure?" Stiles asked with a little laugh. "These pants aren't too tight? I mean, I still have some fat from the pregnancy and—"

Derek silenced him with a kiss, smiling at Stiles's little aborted noise before he melted against Derek's chest. Stiles opened his mouth to Derek's tongue, before he moaned softly and brought his hands up to hold the back of his head. Derek baited Stiles's tongue into his mouth, before he sucked on it, swallowing Stiles's moan.

Derek drew back and smirked at the slightly dazed expression on his mate's face. "I'm going to change," he said, before he patted Stiles's butt.

"Kay," Stiles replied with a grin.

Derek took the stairs two at a time, excited about this date even more now. He undressed in a flash, digging through his side of the closet until he found some nice pants, a white button down and his nicest leather jacket. He waffled on whether or not to wear boots or loafers, but he eventually went with boots. He fixed his hair and stopped in front of the mirror, checking his reflection. It would do.

When he got downstairs, he heard Stiles talking and came into the living room to find Melissa and Stiles standing next to the play pen. "We just fed them, so they should be ready to go down in a couple hours," Stiles was saying.

Zoe had been clinging to Stiles's leg, but when she looked over and saw Derek she grinned and ran full tilt at him. "Uncle Derek!" she squealed, and her R's still sounded a bit like W's.

"Hey, Zoe," Derek said, leaning down to catch her under the arms and haul her up onto his hip. "What's up?"

"We're going to watch The Little Mermaid!" Zoe announced happily.

"You are?" Derek smiled as he walked over to Stiles and Melissa.

"It's my favorite," Zoe told him proudly, before she allowed herself to be passed back to her grandmother. "Nana always watches it with me. Right, Nana?" At Melissa's nod, she beamed. "Nana is the best!"

"Nana!" 

Everyone looked down to find a smiling Talia holding herself up with the side of the pen. "Nana!" she said again, looking accomplished.

"Oh my God," Stiles whispered, before he knelt down in front of her. "Sweetie, that's your first word!" he told her.

"Nana!" She plopped back on her butt and clapped her hands.

"Nana!" Johnnie announced, rolling on his back.

"Well," Derek said, putting his hands in his pockets. "That bet is out the window." He gave Melissa a smile and didn't comment on the tears in her eyes, hugging her instead.

###### 

"It feels like ages since we've been able to go out. Years!" Stiles told Derek as they drove to the next town where there was actually stuff to do. He was an antsy, bouncing ball of energy, half worried about his kids and half elated that he and Derek had time to themselves. His knee was bouncing, and he was wringing his hands. He jumped when Derek's hand landed on his thigh, before he melted under the warm touch.

"Relax," Derek told him with a soft smile, squeezing his thigh. 

Stiles abruptly wondered what his mate would do if he grabbed his hand and pulled it to lay over his crotch. Hopefully not crash the car. Maybe he'd pulled over and lean down to—best not think about it. They had reservations. Stiles just enjoyed the comforting weight of the hand on his thigh.

When they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, Derek went around the car with a quickness, and Stiles watched, amused, as he unbuckled himself. When Derek opened the passenger side door and offered his hand, Stiles tried really hard not to roll his eyes. He took his mate's hand and put the other over his heart, batting his eyes. 

"Why, Mr Hale, you are being positively chivalrous," he said with a mock Southern peach accent, letting Derek help him out of the car and smiling up at him. "Are you going to lay your jacket over a puddle for me now?"

"Not this jacket," Derek said as he put his arm over Stiles's shoulder. "Is this you complaining about the special treatment?"

"Absolutely not," Stiles said, bumping Derek's hip with his own as they walked up to the restaurant. "As long as you don't try to order for me, I'm digging this alpha male 'let me take care of you' thing. You know that I'm going to insist we share an Icee at the theatre now, like a couple of teenagers."

"Does that mean you want to go to a make out point?" Derek said, his tone teasing as he opened the door for Stiles.

"I have a feeling we'd do more than make out, and my dad's deputies don't need to shine a flashlight into the Camaro and see us banging like bunnies." He gave Derek a sweet smile, earning a kind of choked snorting chuckle.

If the host heard him, he didn't betray it in his smile. "Hello gentlemen, what name are you under?"

"Stilinski-Hale," Derek replied, and the host ran a finger down his book before he nodded and told them to follow him to their table.

Stiles took a moment to look around at the restaurant, smiling at what he saw. It was all crisp white tablecloths with shining, long-stemmed wine glasses and soft candlelight. It had been a while since they had gone out to a place so fancy, and Stiles could feel his inner child bounding about inside. In a place like this, he felt like the Sheriff's goofy kid and had to remind himself he was a father and actually old enough to order off the wine menu. When Derek held out his chair for him, his cheeks burned and he couldn't stop grinning.

“Any chance I can interest you in a game of footsie?” Stiles asked after the server had taken their drink and appetizer orders. 

Derek looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. “This place is a bit upscale for that kind of game, don't you think?”

Stiles batted his eyelashes at his mate. “You mean I can't flick my peas across the table at you?”

“Our children are more mature than you.”

Stiles glanced over at the other tables, before he lifted his hand and put it at the side of his mouth like a shield, sticking his tongue out at the other man. “You wouldn't have me any other way.”

“Lucky for you,” Derek agreed, flashing him a winning smile before he nodded to the server as their wine was delivered.

The food was great. Stiles probably consumed more pasta than he should have, because he was trying to get back to his old figure, but it was just so damn good that he couldn't help it. He'd just have to run around more. The twins would probably help with that since they were crawling like they were trying to escape.

He might have made an obscene sex noise at the chocolate cake Derek had insisted they order. He looked up to find a hungry look in Derek's eyes, and that was when he started pulling the cake off of his fork slowly and giving it sensual licks to get the leftover icing. He knew it was working by the way Derek's fork paused, poised over the cake, and his eyes widened as his nostrils flared.

They didn't make it to the movie.

Instead they ended up at make out point, because apparently they were teenagers again, and Stiles couldn't find it in himself to complain. The moment Derek turned off the car, Stiles had his seat belt off and more or less leapt on him, leaning over the middle and grabbing his head to pull him into a kiss. Derek tasted like chocolate and dry wine, and Stiles groaned into his mouth as he dug his fingers into beautiful dark hair. 

Derek made this noise in his chest, a kind of primal moan or growl or something, and shivers ran down Stiles's spine. He tried to lean in more, but the center console was in the way, so he lifted up onto his knees to loom over Derek. He promptly bonked his head on the roof of the car and winced. 

“Ow,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “There's not enough room in here.”

“It's fine,” Derek said impatiently, running his fingers over the back of Stiles's head before pulling him down again and plunging his tongue into his mouth.

Stiles moaned, but for all the wrong reasons. He drew back enough to say, “The console is digging into my hip.” He put his hand on it, wriggling a bit.

“Will you stop complaining?” Derek said, trying to lean up to take his mouth.

But Stiles couldn't get comfortable, so he pulled away and plopped back into his seat. “We should have taken the Prius.”

“Oh my God,” Derek groaned, putting his elbow on the door and slapping his hand over his eyes.

“At least it has a back seat worth anything,” Stiles went on. “We couldn't even fit back there.” He waved his hand in the direction of the back of the Camaro.

“Yes, but does the Prius have tinted windows?” Derek countered, looking at him again.

Stiles pressed his lips together, taking in a huffy breath, because he didn't want to conceded the point. “No.”

“Okay then,” Derek said, before he pushed Stiles back against his seat and rather acrobatically climbed over the center console to drop into a kneeling position in front of Stiles. He grabbed Stiles's face before he could say anything, drawing him back into a searing kissing where Stiles was sure Derek was trying to suck any remaining sugar from the cake right off of his tongue. 

Derek's clever fingers were undoing Stiles's vest as he scraped his teeth along his tongue, and once he got that out of the way, the buttons of Stiles's shirt were next. Stiles tipped his head to the side as Derek kissed down his jaw, letting out a hot breath through parted lips as Derek's mouth licked and nipped down his chest as his shirt revealed skin. Stiles brought his hands up to tangle in Derek's hair as he descended, mewling as the tongue traced a burning path down his skin.

But then he stopped, and Stiles opened his eyes looked down at Derek who had a deeply uncomfortable look on his face. “What?” he asked.

Derek flicked his eyes up, looking reluctant. “I can't go any further. The dash is gouging into my back.”

Stiles let out a loud snort of a laugh. “Told you we should have taken the Prius.”

Derek narrowed his eyes then bit Stiles's nipple, causing him to let out a very manly shriek.

###### 

After going to a later showing of the movie that they had originally intended on going to, they headed home. Stiles could feel exhaustion pulling his eyelids down as he leaned into Derek and waited for him to unlock the door. He wanted to make friends with the nearest soft surface as soon as possible. He jerked when Derek moved, before he followed him inside.

Melissa was sitting on the couch with a book and Zoe under a blanket next to her, totally out with her arm wrapped around her stuffed bear and her thumb in her mouth. Melissa looked up when they walked in, smiling at them and putting a bookmark in her book before standing up. “How was your date?” she asked, her voice soften as so not to wake up Zoe.

“Great,” Stiles said, swaying a bit. “Did the kids give you any problems?”

“Of course not. I put them to bed, and they haven't made a peep. They're angels,” Melissa said, and Stiles fought the urge to preen, because yeah, those were _his_ little angels.

“Thank you for watching them,” Derek said, putting his arm around Stiles's waist when Stiles leaned heavily against him.

“Glad to help,” she told them with a smile. She picked up a sleepy Zoe, hefting her noodle-limp form onto her hip, and gathered up her purse and Zoe's bag. She gave Stiles and Derek each a kiss on the cheek, before she whispered her goodbye and left.

Derek dragged him up the stairs, depositing him in the bed before going to check on the kids. Stiles very slowly managed to get his vest and shirt off, tossing them off the side of the bed before his energy just left him and he gave up in the endeavor of undressing himself. The combined factors of his full stomach, the long day and the fact that the twins had cried until three in the morning the previous night just exhausted him.

He was already drifting off when he felt hands undoing his belt and pants, and he opened his eyes to find a pretty amused Derek over him. “And here I was going to suggest a continuation of what we were doing in the car,” Derek said as he tugged Stiles's pants down and off. “But I have a feeling you would fall asleep and leave me hanging.”

“Nuh uh,” Stiles said as he watched through half lidded eyes as Derek pulled off his own clothes. “We can totally bang. Let's go.” Despite his slurring voice, he made come hither motions.

Derek rolled his eyes fondly, before he crawled up onto the bed, pressing against him so the only thing separating them was their boxers. “You're exhausted,” he said, bringing his hand up to run his fingers through Stiles's hair, which made his eyes droop to closing. 

“I can do it without looking,” Stiles mumbled, tossing his arm over Derek's shoulder and letting it hang there.

“Sure you can,” Derek said into his ear, a smile evident in his voice. “Go to sleep.”

“No,” Stiles said petulantly, turning his head and trying to kiss Derek. He missed, and that was probably his nose.

Derek laughed, putting his arm around him and starting to knead the muscles of his back. “Yes.”

Stiles turned into a happy, gooey puddle, murmuring out something unintelligible. He fell asleep, his face stuck to Derek's shoulder, feeling warm and pampered.

###### 

The first birthday for the twins was a huge, full pack affair. Lydia was the party planner, and she went all out. The whole house was decorated in blue and pink streamers, winding around the railing of the stairs and hanging in arcs on the walls. Hanging from the ceilings were adorable paper lanterns with baby bunnies, ducklings, puppies and kittens on them. They had even moved the furniture around to make way for a table that was draped in layers of blue and pink and covered in presents.

Peter was filming everything. He had bought a digital camera with a built in recorder just for this event. He was kneeling beside the playpen, trying to get the kids to say 'unca.' They seemed more interested in pawing at the silver camera like it was the most magnificent thing they had ever seen.

"They're getting so big," Scott said as he stood next to Stiles, Zoe on his hip.

"You say that every time you see them," Stiles reminded him as he held Zoe's hand.

"Yup, I've turned into you," Scott replied with a grin. "But they are though. Little werewolves grow up so fast." He turned his head and nuzzled Zoe's cheek. "Isn't that right, princess?"

"Yeah!" Zoe agreed with a nod and a grin, shaking Stiles's hand up and down.

Stiles had to agree. It felt like only yesterday when they had brought their little bundles of joy home for the first time, and now they were crawling around and talking. Their vocabularies were growing by the day. Johnnie's favorite word was 'more,' and Talia's favorite was 'no.'

After Scott moved away to go talk to someone else, Stiles looked over at Derek, who was talking with Allison and Jackson, a smile on his face and an easy relaxation about him that made Stiles sigh. Sometimes he was struck by how far Derek had come, how comfortable he was now that he was mated and had a family, a pack. Seeing him happy just made Stiles so happy too.

Derek looked over as if he had felt Stiles's stare, and he politely excused himself before he came over to put his arms around Stiles and press his lips into his temple. "See something you like?" Derek murmured in Stiles's ear.

Stiles chuckled, leaning into him and hooking his thumbs in the belt loops on the back of Derek's jeans. "What? I can't admire my husband from afar?" he replied, nuzzling Derek's neck.

"You know how I get when I feel your eyes on me," Derek said, smiling into Stiles's hair.

"Oh, I know." Stiles pulled Derek closer.

"Oh my God, you two, get a room." Stiles and Derek looked over to find Erica grinning at them. Boyd was at her side, his arm slung over her shoulders and her fingers laced in his. "I thought the honeymoon phase was supposed to end after you had kids," she said.

"Still waiting for that to happen," Stiles said, before he nuzzled Derek's chin just to hear her make a gagging noise. He chuckled before he turned and leaned into his mate, his back against his front, and Derek looped his arms loosely around his waist. "Speaking of kids though," he said as he laid his hands on Derek's wrist. "When are you two going to have some?"

"Well—" Boyd started.

"No," Erica finished. She looked up at her husband and gave a wolfish grin. "We live in an apartment, hon. It's not exactly babyproof. And I want to travel somewhere exciting like the UK or Asia or Latin America before I settle down and start popping out pups. I want to do things."

Boyd sighed but smiled back. "Anything you want," he told her, and she grinned before she lifted up on her toes as he leaned down to kiss her.

Stiles rolled his eyes at the display. "Oh my God, you guys, get a room," he deadpanned.

Erica stuck her tongue at him. "Can we borrow yours?" she asked, batting her eyelashes, and Boyd smiled.

"Ew," Stiles said.

Derek cleared his throat, pulling back. "I think it's time for cake," he said, his voice carrying, and everyone looked over.

They picked up the twins, Derek holding Talia and Stiles holding Johnnie, and brought them over to the dining table where there was a big rectangular cake with icing balloons and rainbow sprinkles. It said 'Happy Birthday Talia and Johnnie!' (They had deliberated on whose name would be first, and they decided on Talia's since she was born three minutes before her brother.) There was a big candle in the shape of the number one, white and outlined in green.

"Wait, we have to sing Happy Birthday!" Isaac told them, grinning as a couple people (Derek and Jackson) groaned. But they sang anyway.

There was some laughing at their collective tone deafness. Derek dug a lighter out of his pocket, shuffling Talia against his chest as he lit the candle. Then he put his hand under her butt again.

"Ready to blow out your candle and make a wish?" Stiles asked his little angels, before he and Derek leaned down. "One, two, three." Cameras flashed all around them as he and Derek blew at the same time, before they stood up, laughing as people started cheering and clapping.

Did this mean he and Derek got the wish? Stiles didn't know what to wish for since he already had everything he wanted. He imagined Derek probably wished for the Prius to turn black.

Stiles's dad managed to beat Derek to the cake cutting knife, taking over that duty and shooing them away to the table. Melissa, Isaac and Lydia helped pass out slices of cake, which was marble with buttercream icing.

Derek and Stiles got their pieces first, and Derek cut off a tiny bit before offering it to Johnnie. "Here's your first bite of cake, little man," he told him, and Johnnie grabbed his hand before opening his mouth wide.

Everyone was quiet as they watched, and Johnnie's eyes went wide, before he starting bouncing in Derek's lap and making grabbing motions at the plate. He said "More, more!" over and over again to a chorus of 'aww's around the room. Derek cut him another piece, and he devoured it.

Stiles grinned as he watched, before he did the same, offering a bite to Talia. She ate it, her reaction more or less the same as Johnnie's. He kissed the top of her head, giving her another piece, before he cut off a bigger one. "Hey," he said to Derek, holding it out, and Derek looked at him before he smiled and opened his mouth obligingly.

But then Stiles smooshed the cake against Derek's cheek, to the laughter of the room and the delight of their children. Derek lifted his hand as if to wipe it off as Stiles giggled, but he grabbed the side of Stiles's face instead. He jerked him close and rubbed his icing covered cheek against Stiles's.

Stiles wiggled, and Derek just laughed before telling him, "Sharing is caring."

"This is going on YouTube," Peter told them, standing on the other side of the table with a grin and his camera aimed at them.

Stiles stuck his tongue out at him, before he gave a high laugh as Derek ran the flat of his tongue up to whole side of his face.

After cake, it was time for presents. Derek and Stiles were instructed by Lydia to sit on the floor with the kids against their fronts as she and Isaac handed them gifts. The twins didn't quite understand what the function of wrapping paper was, but they very much liked the shiny bows. Stiles and Derek pulled the paper off for them, and Isaac and Lydia cleared it away.

From their grandpa John, they got building blocks. They were soft and worn around the edges, and they came in a box that definitely wasn't the original.

"Hey," Stiles said, picking one up and inspecting it as Johnnie smacked two of them together. "I remember these." He looked up at his dad.

John shrugged, giving half a smile. "They were in the attic. I thought you'd want your kids to have them."

"I do, Dad," Stiles said, beaming up at him. "Thanks."

"Sure, bud," John said, looking embarrassed as everyone looked at him. He made shooing motions. "There are more presents. Go, go."

Their Nana got them small, soft dinosaurs that felt like they were filled with little beads. Allison and Scott got them some picture books with buttons on the sides that made animal sounds to correspond with the images. Zoe announced that she helped pick them out. Chris got them a gift card to Babies R Us.

Lydia and Jackson had gone to Build A Bear for custom stuffed toys. Johnnie's was a tiger in, yup, a lacrosse uniform, and it roared when it was hugged. Talia's was a black dog in a pink tutu and a black leather jacket, because she took after her daddy, and it howled.

Boyd and Erica got the kids a Tiny Tots train set. And they apparently corresponded with Danny and Ethan, because they got them add ons for it.

Isaac gift was inspired. He got them a little dome projector for their room that would cast planets and stars across their walls and ceiling as well as play gentle music for them to fall asleep to.

Cora, who was still abroad, had mailed them some adorable clothes. There were two dresses for Talia, as well as a cute pair of shiny shoes. She also had a little red cloak, so she could be the cutest and most ironic Little Red Riding Hood ever. Johnnie got some overalls, one with a moon and star on the front. He had a hat too, but when Stiles tried to put it on him, he grabbed it and started chewing on it.

It was time for Peter's gift, and there were still seven boxes on the table. Everyone looked at him, and he shrugged. “I couldn't decide,” he said sheepishly, before he made a motion at Lydia and Isaac to go ahead, because he was still filming.

The first one they opened was a kind of block box shaped like a cow with a soft tail and a head on a spring that could be tugged on. The top opened, and the colorful sides were cut in different shaped for little hands to shove shaped blocks through. It was adorable. The next gift was a collection of weighted balls that were cut off at the top in zig zag patterns, and the all stacked up, largest to smallest, with a base to hold them. After that were a pair of froggy towel/robe hybrids with hoods. There were quite a few bath toys too, as well as a yellow ducky bath mitt.

“You have really gone all out, Peter,” Stiles said as he watched Derek open the next gift, which was a rolling dog on a leash that wagged its tail and flapped its ears as it moved.

“You know I can't help myself,” Peter said.

Oh, Stiles knew that already.

Last were a set of blocks hollowed in the middle and fitted with Kaleidoscope middles of all different colors. Stiles caught the irritated look his dad sent Peter and tried not to laugh. The kids would probably play with them all together, and the more they had, they happier they would be.

“Alright, last one,” Lydia said as she lifted Stiles's gift off the table and handed it over.

“You didn't get them anything?” Stiles asked as Johnnie dropped one of his new blocks in exchange for grabbing the yellow bow on the gift and tearing it off.

“I did,” Derek replied cryptically.

Stiles squinted suspiciously at him, before he went about ripping open the gift in front of him. Stiles had gotten them two things, both for their room. The first was a kind of mobile made up of a set of large, broad, bright green leaves that had fireflies on the underside, which lit up. The next looked kind of like a plant with three stalks, and on the top were three balls that lit up. The balls could be removed, and they held a charge to glow softly for about a half an hour. They were small enough to be held in little hands and big enough so that they couldn't be choked on.

“Those are awesome,” Scott said in kind of an awed way once the gifts were revealed.

Then all eyes were on Derek, and he grinned at them before he lifted Talia and set her in between Stiles's legs with her brother. He got up and went out of the room and was gone for a minute before he came back with a wooden chest held in front of him. It was about four feet across and two feet tall, stained a deep mahogany color. He set it down next to Stiles, who reached out to touch the spirals of the triskele carved into the front.

“Derek...” Stiles looked at his mate, who knelt next to the chest.

“It's a toy chest,” Derek explained, running his hand over the top. “My siblings and I shared one when I was little, and it went up in the fire. I wanted our kids to have one just like it, so I tried to recreate it.” When Stiles didn't say anything, he shrugged. “We're going to need some place to put all of these toys.”

It was true. They were using a basket for the toys they already had, and it was already over flowing. Stiles touched the carving again, smiling softly, before he crooked his finger at his mate. Derek smiled and moved closer so Stiles could kiss him, and there were many 'aww's around the room.

After deciding which toys the kids could play with right then, Stiles and Derek piled the rest into the chest, and they were both pleased that everything fit. Then they left the twins on their blanket with their blocks and went to mingle and thank everyone for the gifts. 

Peter had finally stopped recording, and he was happy to be hugged by Stiles. There were hugs all around. John nearly crushed Stiles's spine, and Melissa let out a squeal of a laugh when Derek picked her up with his embrace. Zoe hugged their legs as they pulled Scott and Allison into their arms. Erica and Boyd both appeared like they were put out at the very idea, but they hugged just as hard as the others. Stiles didn't know Ethan was a hugger until he was almost choked by him. They hugged Isaac between them, and he sniffed before walking away complaining about pollen and allergies. Chris gave them both a solid pat on the shoulder.

Stiles went to play host, handing out beers and glasses of wine. He offered some Moscato d'Asti to Allison, but she shook her head. “You sure? I know we can't get drunk, but it's still fun to try,” he told her with a smile.

“No, I think I'll stick with ginger ale, thanks,” Allison said, before she gave a smile and set her hand on her stomach.

Stiles stared, his eyes widening impossibly, before he blurted out far too loudly, “You're pregnant?!” The chatter around them died instantly, and everyone looked at them. Allison smiled wider, her cheeks flushing. “When did you find out? How far along are you?”

“We found out a few days ago. I'm about four weeks,” Allison said, and Scott came up behind her, putting his arms around her and covering her hand on her stomach with his.

“Allison!” Lydia cried, rushing across the room to hug her before Stiles could even think too. “Congrats! You know I'm going to plan your baby shower, right?” she told her as she pulled back to smile at her.

“I know,” Allison said, beaming at her. 

Everyone came over to hug Allison and offer their congratulations, and eventually she got flustered and swatted at them. “Stop it!” she said, laughing, before she put her arms around Scott. “This isn't my party!” With fond looks, everyone dispersed, and Zoe ran up to them to ask what was going on. 

As Zoe was learning that she was going to have a new little brother or sister, Stiles looked over at his kids to see how they were doing. Talia had crawled over to an armchair, and she was using it to pull herself onto her feet. She looked over at them, before she let go of the chair and reached her little arms out to them. Stiles rapidly swatted Derek's arm to get him attention.

“Ow, what?” Derek asked, before he looked over too.

Talia took one step, and then another, and another. She seemed to get a rhythm down, and her face split into a grin as she waddled in a zig-zagging line over to them. Her fingers were grasping in the air, ready to grab onto her daddies. Everyone else had turned to look, and Peter had fumbled with his camera a second before finally getting it recording. Talia giggled, before she took a step that was too wide and became unbalanced. She landed with an 'uh!' on her butt.

Stiles let out a kind of squeal at the sight of her. Talia's ears were pointed, hair had sprouted on the side of her face, and her canines were poking out over her lips. She blinked her huge brown eyes, before she lifted her clawed hands over her head and let out a giggle. Then she crossed her eyes and started blowing spit bubbles. 

Yeah, that was Stiles's daughter right there.

###### 

How in the world his kids went from not being able to walk to being able to run in the matter of three months, Derek would never know. Of course he was proud of his children for being such fast learners, but he kind of missed being able to contain them. They were able to climb out of their playpen and dash around the house, and Derek had to chase them, to the endless amusement of his mate. 

No matter how he tried to control them, they always managed to run him in circles. That was why he wasn't sure how he let them lull him into a false sense of security one afternoon while he was giving them a bath.

They were being angels. They weren't splashing and getting Derek all wet. They were just calmly playing with their bath toys and Derek scrubbed them with the yellow ducky mitt known as Walter. The name was Stiles's idea. He liked to tell stories in a funny voice with Walter as a puppet. Derek didn't do that, and the kids complained, so the compromise was to let them have a ridiculous amount of bubbles.

Derek shielded Johnnie's eyes as he poured a cupful of warm water over his head to rinse out the shampoo. He wiped any stray rivulets of bubbles, smiling as Johnnie just continued making little 'zoom zoom' noises as he pushed his boat around.

Talia let him lather up her hair, but when he went to rinse it, she held out her hands for the cup. “I do it!” she told him firmly, and he let her grasp it, though he held the bottom as she upturned it. She got most of it on her face, and he wiped away the soap on her forehead as she looked up at him expectantly. He snorted and got another cupful, helping her aim it this time.

He lifted Johnnie out of the tub, setting him on the mat, before he grabbed Talia under the arms too. He pulled her out then picked up one of the froggy towel-robe things, turning to Johnnie. But he was simply not there anymore. Derek turned to see his little naked butt disappearing down the hallway.

“Crap,” he growled, before he put the froggy towel/robe on Talia then grabbed the other one and took off after his son. “Johnathan!” he called after him, and he leaned down to grab him, but the little boy took a sharp turn and dashed through the space between a loveseat and a table that was too small for Derek. “You little brat,” he said, going around the loveseat and bending down to grab him. Johnnie went right through Derek's legs, causing him to growl, before he dashed toward the front door as it opened. 

“Hello, buddy!” Stiles said, and Derek went into the entryway to see him putting his messenger bag down. “You're naked,” he said, before he picked Johnnie up then held him out. “And wet!” Stiles grinned at Derek then let the little boy be wrapped up in the froggy towel before he took him back into his arms. He lifted the hood and rubbed at Johnnie's hair. “Chaos at bath time?” Stiles asked.

“You know it,” Derek said, starting back down the hall. He slipped on the trail of water that Johnnie left behind, and he would have done the splits had his feet not hit the walls on either side of him. Stiles chuckled behind him as he shuffled down the hallway before making it to the bathroom where Talia had put her arms through the holes of the frog towel/robe and was drying her own hair with the hood.

Derek left her to it, grabbing a towel and putting it on the floor of the hallway, before he stepped on it and walked it along the trail of water to clean it up. Stiles was grinning at his by the time he reached it, and Derek just leaned in to kiss him. Then he looked at Johnnie, who looked strangely proud of himself. “I'd ground you if I could,” Derek told him.

“No, you wouldn't,” Stiles said.

“No, I wouldn't.” Derek sighed, before he looked down as Talia ran up to grab his leg.

###### 

It was Allison's turn to pick where they were having their pre-run planning lunch, and she chose Greek, probably because she was a craving pregnant lady and would not be denied. The nearest Greek place was forty-five minutes away from the town proper of Beacon Hills and over an hour away from the center of the preserve where the Stilinski-Hale house was. So they piled the kids into the Prius, and off they went.

At first it was fine. The kids were being patient, happy to hold their custom stuffed animals and bounce along with the songs that Stiles was playing from his iPod mounted on the stereo. It was funny how swiftly he and Derek had gotten used to Old McDonald and The Wheels on the Bus. Stiles sometimes sang along, which delighted the twins. Derek didn't sing, but occasionally Stiles saw his lips just barely moving.

It was when they ran out of songs halfway through the ride and had to go back to the beginning that the kids started to get antsy. Long periods of time in one spot for seventeen-month-old werewolves just didn't happen.

"Dada!" Talia cried, sounding like she was five seconds away from screaming.

"What, sweetheart?" Derek replied, using his calm voice and glancing through the rearview mirror at her.

"Want out!" she told him, tugging at her car seat restraints.

"We'll be there soon, then you can get out," Derek promised her.

"Want out now!" Talia barked back.

"Talia," Derek said, a warning in his tone now.

Stiles looked back to find Talia with her arms crossed tightly around her punk ballerina dog, cheeks puffed out angrily. But she didn't seem like she was going to cause anymore trouble. Stiles looked forward again and almost immediately Johnnie let out a shriek then started to cry. Stiles turned around in his seat, finding him kicking and reaching down at the floorboards where his lacrosse tiger had fallen. Talia looked strangely proud of herself.

Grunting and reaching down to get the tiger, he handed it back to his son, which immediately pacified him. Then he looked to his daughter. "Talia, did you knock your brother's toy onto the floor?" he asked her, and she looked down.

"No," she told him, holding her own toy close to her.

"Be nice," Stiles told her, and she harrumphed at him.

Stiles looked forward, shaking his head a little. He had wanted spirited, smart children, and he had them. But they were also little terrors. The moment they learned that they could work together instead of against each other was the moment they would take over the world.

They made it to the restaurant, finally, but only after Talia banged her toy repeatedly against the car window. Neither of the kids were pleased about leaving their stuffed animals in the car, but they were quickly distracted by the change in scenery. Johnnie was pleased to be carried on Stiles's hip, while Talia had demanded she be allowed to walk. Derek kept a grip on her hand to keep her from running in front of a car.

Scott waved from the large round table he, Allison and Zoe were all sitting at. "Hey guys," he said once they got close enough. "We got you some booster seats."

"Thanks," Stiles said, setting Johnnie in one of them. They were between two other seats, that way Stiles and Derek could sit on either side of their kids.

But Talia apparently didn't want that. She kicked and pushed against the seat when Derek tried to put her in it. "No!" she complained.

Derek sighed, apparently tired of her attitude for today. "Where do you want to sit then?" he asked her, and she pointed to the chair next to the one with booster in it. "Next to Zoe?"

"Yeah!" she said, nodding.

"Okay fine, but no more yelling, young lady," Derek told her, moving the booster seat and sitting her on it. She grinned at Zoe, who was drinking very enthusiastically from a straw.

Once they were settled and had their orders put in, Stiles grinned at Allison. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Fat," she said with a snort and a smile. "Ready to have this little man on the outside." She rubbed her swollen belly.

"I'm gonna have a baby brother!" Zoe announced very proudly, before she stood up in her seat. "When he's ready to come out, mommy's belly is gonna burst open and candy's gonna come out!" She thrust her arms out wide, fingers spread. "Then he's gonna come out too, and we'll eat the candy together." She crossed her arms and grinned. "But I get most of it 'cause I'm the big sister."

"I want some!" Talia whined.

"Zoe, sit down, hun," Allison told her, and the little girl did. "I'm apparently a pinata now." She giggled.

"That's more or less how the twins were born," Stiles said, which made Derek choke a little on his drink.

Allison more or less planned everything for the run. She was lamenting not being able to shift herself, so she put herself in charge of everything. She would have no arguing, dammit. Not that anyone would challenge an eight months pregnant alpha.

By the time everything was finished, all three kids had gone into food comas. Derek and Stiles carried their sleepy babies back to the car, buckled them up and put their toys in their laps. Stiles didn't bother with the happy, upbeat music, instead letting the kids be lulled by the silence and movement of the car.

"Allison looked great, didn't she?" Stiles asked as they drove.

"Yeah," Derek replied.

"I didn't look that good when I was pregnant. I wonder what her secret is," Stiles said, leaning back and putting a pout on his face for show. Derek just made a noncommittal noise, so he glared at him. "You're supposed to say that I was beautiful, and she looks like a whale compared to me," he said flatly.

"Huh?" Derek said, turning to look at him in surprise as if he had been pulled out of entirely different thoughts. "Oh, pretend I said that then."

Stiles snorted at him, slouching and crossing his arms. "Praise and flattery were part of your vows. You're failing at your husbandy duties."

"Want to stop by Cold Stone?"

"Nevermind, you're the best."

###### 

Stiles's children had extremely refined palates. Talia wanted scrambled eggs and ketchup for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, and dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets with more ketchup for dinner. Johnnie wanted a pile of bacon for breakfast, a peanut butter and mushed banana sandwich for lunch, and dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets with barbeque sauce for dinner. At least the kind of agreed on one meal.

His pair of two-year-old terrors would wail and fight against most other foods, pushing the plates away and kicking in their booster seats. Heaven forbid Stiles or Derek put something green on a plate for them. Even covered in cheese sauce, the kids knew steamed broccoli when they saw it and wouldn't touch it. No amount 'but it's good, watch daddy/papa!' would convince them. A toddler crossing their arms and very stubbornly declaring 'no!' was hard to argue with, because they were both particularly obstinate.

His kids were going to be foodies, the both of them!

One compromise Stiles had found was PB&J sandwiches for lunch. He was crazily worried that his kids weren't getting enough nutrition, so he bought _natural_ peanut butter with no oils or added sugar. He went for organic preserves instead of jelly, and his kids loved blackberry and strawberry. He also gave them as much milk and juice (not from concentrate) as he could without hooking them up to an IV each. Of course they demanded chocolate milk, but he still found whole milk with minimum sugar and extra calcium.

While making some sandwiches for the kids, him and Derek, Stiles was humming along to a song floating out from the speakers where his iPod was docked. He had gotten into Imagine Dragons lately, which meant he was listening to them pretty much all the time. It drove Derek crazy, and he had been especially annoyed when he caught himself softly singing along. Stiles took it as a victory.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Stiles saw Talia toddle into the kitchen, and he turned to smile at her. “Hey, baby, lunch is almost ready,” he told her as he cut another sandwich into fourths so they could be held by little hands.

Talia stared up at him, before she stuck her thumb in her mouth and sucked on it like it was her mission before she walked over to the counter, he assumed to try to see what he was doing. She put her fingers on top of the door of the ground cabinet, staring up with interest. When she failed to gain insight, she turned away, but her hand stayed on the door. It didn't open all of the way, instead stopping a couple inches out and snapping back when her fingers slipped off. She stopped, looking at it curiously and grabbing the knob to repeat it.

“There's a child lock, Talia,” Stiles told her with a smile as she pulled at the door and furrowed her little bushy brows when it stubbornly stayed put. She didn't quite have the problem solving ability to push the plastic lock down to free the door. At most she would just tug at it until she got bored.

Stiles went back to to working on lunch, slathering pieces of bread then cutting the crusts off. Then he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a violent smack, bang, _crunch_ collection of noises. He jerked away from the counter, knife still in hand, and looked down.

Talia was holding the cabinet door in her hands, screws still in the ripped off hinges, and looking at it like it was a magical prize. She turned her almond shaped brown eyes up, before she grinned widely at him. “I did it!” she announced, lifting the door above her head and turning to run into the living room with her trophy.

Stiles could only watch.

“Hey, sweetheart, what's that you have?” came Derek's voice. “Is that a door to the cabinet? Give me that, please.” There was a pause. “Do not hit your brother with it!”

Johnnie let out a wail that probably would have broken the windows if it were pitched any higher.

After they managed to wrestle the door away from Talia, Stiles stayed with the kids while Derek went to the hardware store for supplies to reinforce the cabinets, complete magnetic locks that had keys for the parents as opposed to the simple plastic ones they had picked before. After dinner that night, he broke out the electric screwdriver and went to town.

The next morning when they were all piling into the kitchen for breakfast, Talia immediately went back to the same cabinet door. She looked annoyed that it was back in place, and when she tugged on the handle, it didn't move at all. The locks that they had chosen were unlocked via a magnetic key that they were keeping out of reach in a drawer. This seemed to upset her, because she started making little noises of discontent like she was about to start crying.

“Hey now, little miss,” Stiles said as he hefted her up and took her to the table as Derek brought the plates over. “You bested us once. Be proud of yourself and bow out gracefully,” Stiles told her as he sat her in her booster seat and taking her hand to put the soft plastic spork in it. Scrambled eggs and ketchup for papa's super strong princess.

Stiles sat down at his place catty corner to Derek and watched his kids eye each other's plates. Johnnie no doubt wanted Talia's bacon while Talia wanted her brother's eggs. They were impossible.

Derek had made Stiles a tomato omelette, because he was the best mate in the world, and had made a bacon omelette for himself. Stiles watched as Derek chewed huge bites of his food while reading the paper. Stiles would read the paper himself after breakfast, though on his Kindle via a news app because he wasn't a total technophobe.

It took a minute or two for Stiles to realize that Derek wasn't drinking coffee like he usually did. He wasn't sure what he was drinking, because his cup was opaque, but he assumed it was orange juice like Stiles had for himself. But then Derek got a drink moustache.

"Are you drinking chocolate milk?" Stiles asked, before he became a thousand kinds of amused when Derek looked at him, unaware of his facial addition. Stiles pointed to his own upper lip, and Derek wiped the back of his hand across his lips. "Is this an act of solidarity? Trying to bond with our kids via breakfast drinks?" He smiled when a little color touched Derek's cheekbones.

"I like the way it tastes," Derek said, before he pulled the paper up and got really interested in it.

"Uh huh," Stiles said, before he patted Derek's forearm. He looked over at his kids, and somehow Talia had traded her bacon for Johnnie's eggs. He sighed at them, and they looked smug.

###### 

For this month's run meeting, Stiles and Derek took the kids, now just a week older than three years, over to Allison and Scott's. Zoe, who was six, opened the door and greeted them with a big grin. One of her baby teeth had fallen out, and made sure to tell them all about how the tooth fairy had given her a silver dollar for it. Talia and Johnnie had no idea who the tooth fairy was, so they bombarded her with questions.

"Okay, okay," Scott said as he came into the entryway. "Zoe, why don't you take Talia and Johnnie out back to see the garden you and mommy planted?”

Zoe thought that was an amazing idea if her slow gasp and huge smile was anything to go by. She grabbed a hand of each twin and dragged them away.

“She's been telling everyone about her tooth,” Scott said as he beckoned them in so he could shut the door after them. “Including every cashier at the supermarket.” He led them through the house to the back patio, where Allison was sitting on a porch swing with Antonio, an eighteen-month-old mini-Scott. 

“Hey, guys,” Allison said, smiling at them, before she looked down at her son in her lap. “Tony, it's uncle Stiles and uncle Derek, say hi.” The little boy waved at them before he turned to hide his face in his mother's shirt. She chuckled, petting his head. “He's still a bit shy.”

“Give Zoe some time to teach him her ways,” Stiles said as he sat down in one of the chairs surrounding a glass table. Derek sat next to him. “He'll be running up to strangers in no time.”

“Don't give him any ideas,” Allison laughed, rubbing Tony's back.

“We ordered some pizza,” Scott said as he sat down next to Allison and put his arm over the back of the bench swing. Tony promptly flopped over both of his parents's laps, so Scott started to run his fingers gently through his thick black hair. 

“I like pizza,” was Stiles's very important input.

“How're the twins doing? You guys just started potty training, right?” Allison asked, her fingers rubbing gentle circles on the small of Tony's back.

Stiles glanced at Derek, who gave a 'go ahead' nod, so Stiles sat up straighter. “Yeah, we have. They're both open to the idea, but it's getting them both to use the potty every time that's the difficult part.” He shrugged, feeling Derek's hand on the back of his neck, brushing through the short hairs there. “Probably the hardest part was figuring out how to teach Talia, since neither of us pee sitting down.”

That drew a surprise bout of laughter out of both Allison and Scott. They hadn't faced that issue.

“And sometimes they'll forget to pull their training diapers back on and run around with their naked butts in the wind.” Stiles grinned as he remembered the first few times they witnessed that. His kids had been very proud of themselves and didn't seem to grasp the issue with partial nudity. 

“Other than potty training, things are okay. Johnnie has, out of nowhere, started screaming some nights if we try to leave the nursery before he is ready to go down. He cries and begs for stories.” Johnnie was a bit needy, but Stiles was confident that he would grow out of it. They had already learned a kind of compromising system, where he would get a certain number of stories, never more than three, depending on length of reading time and how soon lights out was.

“Talia, on the other hand, has turned into a little biting monster,” he said, shaking his head. “She likes to hide and around corners and jump out to sink her teeth into our calves. When she does it, she yells 'Alpha!' and roars. I blame this guy.” He pointed to Derek.

“What?” Derek asked, his fingers pausing on the back of Stiles neck as he blinked at him. 

“You know how you are,” Stiles said with a kind of fond exasperated smile. “If you can't get a package or something open, it's like 'if all else fails, use your fangs!' So Talia has learned that from you, so she's using it in her play.”

Derek huffed at him. “I only use my teeth because you always take the scissors out of the kitchen and hide them all over the house. I'm just being resourceful.”

“Oh, it's my fault?” Stiles asked, playing as offended with his dramatically widened eyes.

“Everything's your fault,” Derek agreed, leaning in to nudge their noses together, which just made Stiles laugh and playfully push at his chest. 

“Anyway!” Scott said, holding the front of the word out with a dramatic roll of his eyes. “We should probably get to business, right?”

“Yes, we should,” Derek said as he scooted just a bit closer to Stiles and hugged him around the shoulders. “Anything new that we should be aware off?”

“Oh, yes,” Allison said, before she glanced around her immediately area then frowned. “I can't believe I didn't bring it out with me.” She looked at Scott. “Can you go get the—?”

“The list?” Scott finished for her, already adjusting his sleepy son completely onto her lap before he got up. “Got it. Just a second.” He went into the house.

“There are a few new wolves moving into the territory. They sent us their information and a bit about them. They also seem very nice. Two of them have children.” She smiled as Scott came back out and handed a piece of paper to Derek before returning to her side. “They're all open to meeting the clan alpha before the run. There's also one familiar name on there.”

Derek looked at the list, eyes flying across the names and info, before they widened. “Oh,” he said.

“What?” Stiles said, leaning over, before taking the list as Derek handed it over. Immediately he was taken aback, blinking rapidly. Well, he hadn't expected to see _that_ name again!

Before he could think on it further, his thoughts were interrupted by sudden, sharp screaming, and everyone looked out into the garden where Zoe and Talia were holding a kicking and screaming Johnnie on his back in the dirt. They all hurried up and out to see what was happening. Allison hung back a bit with Tony on her hip, and the moment Scott and Derek pulled Zoe and Talia back, Johnnie surged toward Stiles and nearly knocked him over.

“Oh, baby, it's okay,” Stiles told him, managing to get him to look up. His face was covered in dirt with trails of tears cutting clean paths. 

“What were you two doing?” Derek asked the girls in his stern voice, the one that made the kids drop their eyes in shame.

Zoe held up a wriggling worm in her muddy hand. “We were trying to get him to eat it,” she explained.

“Why would you do that?” Scott asked her, taking her hand to toss the worm away into the garden. The little girl just shrugged. “Don't do that. That's not nice.”

“How would you like it if someone tried to make you eat a worm?” was Derek's question.

“I dunno,” Zoe said with a shrug, and Talia just dug the toe of her shoe into the soft earth beneath her feet.

“Talia, tell your brother you're sorry,” Stiles said, petting his son's hair as he hiccuped through soft sobs. 

“Sorry, Johnnie,” Talia said, sounding a bit reluctant, but she did look up to make eye contact.

“Yeah, sorry,” Zoe said, unprompted, which made Scott brush his hand over her hair.

Everyone looked over as a doorbell chimed, announcing the arrival of the pizzas.

Stiles turned Johnnie toward the house. “Okay, kids, let's all get washed up for lunch.”

“Then we can watch a movie,” Allison said in agreement.

The girls were quiet through lunch, eating their slices of pizza, cut up into little bite sized pieces, without their eyes leaving their plates. Stiles let Johnnie sit in his lap through lunch, giving him extra slices of pepperoni. After food, Zoe and Scott gathered the pillows and blankets from the beds in the house to make a soft nest for all of the kids to curl up in front of the TV. The kids all decided to watch Tangled, and even though young Tony didn't seem to understand the plot, he made little 'aaaieeee!' sounds when the horse came on screen. When the movie wound down, Tony was asleep, and Johnnie was wrapped around him with the girls on either side.

“You know what they look like?” Scott asked from his position on one of the couches, Allison pillowed against his front.

“What?” Stiles replied, leaning more or less all over Derek, who has dipped his fingers under the hem of his shirt to trace figure eights on his hipbone. 

Scott let a wide, lazy grin spread across his face. “A mini wolf pack.”

After blinking once, twice, thrice, Stiles let out a chuff of a laugh, because yeah, they did.

###### 

Cooking for himself was irritating, especially since Peter could admit he was a bit of a food snob and only liked cooking with fresh ingredients, never with anything frozen or canned. That was part of the reason he chose to live in an apartment that was within a five block radius of an outdoor food market. He went there every two or three days, always on the look out for the best things to cook with, especially red meats, and he would never turn down a beautiful selection of duck or scallops.

But even though he made amazing food, it was always for one, and that made his meals unsatisfying in several ways.

Peter was contemplating whether or not to have sweet potato or rhubarb mash with his steak that night as he turned toward the fresh produce stands and stopped in surprise as to who he saw. Immediately he was taken back fifteen years to when he had met this man and had helped him track down a twisted hunter known as Gerard Argent. It had been a werewolf vs rogue hunter war that Peter would never soon forget, and this man had possessed a very personal vendetta against Gerard.

Deucalion.

The blind wolf had left his pack in New Mexico when he had caught wind that old man Argent was in Beacon Hills, and he had borrowed alphas from neighboring packs along the way. Ethan and Aiden from a pack in Arizona, two teenage alphas at the time, were extraordinary in their ability to combine strength by joining bodies. Kali, from central California, was a cunning strategist that was always at least one step ahead of the hunters they were up against. And then there was Ennis, a large alpha from a strong pack and also one of Talia's close friends and thus a family friend.

The battle against the hunters had been long and bloody. Derek had only just been established as a region alpha, and hadn't had a handle on his pack just yet. Unfortunately that had led to two of his betas, Erica and Boyd, being snatched up by the hunters and then hidden away to be moon starved for three months. The hunters had no doubt intended to turn the crazed betas on their own pack, but their plans had backfired, because Erica and Boyd had torn one hunter apart, nearly killing him, before escaping.

That put Derek on the war path, and it turned the tide in the battle. After extracting Erica and Boyd's memories, they found the hunters and the final bloody fight began. The wounds were grave on both sides, but the casualties were minimal. No wolves died, but Gerard refused to go down alive, eventually falling quite literally on his own sword.

Afterward, the alphas that were helping Deucalion dispersed. Kali went back home and, last Peter had heard, married her pack's emissary, a woman named Julia. Ennis left, promising his help to Derek and anyone who ever needed it again. The twin brothers, Ethan and Aiden, separated. Aiden went back home, and Ethan stayed because he had met and fallen for a beta in Derek's pack named Danny, giving up his region alpha status to become a subordinate alpha to Derek.

Deucalion had gone back to New Mexico, and Peter hadn't heard a peep about him since. And yet, here he was, standing next to a stand as the produce seller explained to him what he had to offer as well as patiently watching as Deucalion ran his fingers over a selection of avocados. It was a bit early in the season, so they were more than likely not very ripe. 

“Deucalion,” Peter said, before he was a little surprised at himself because he didn't even remember moving closer to the other man.

“Yes?” Deucalion said, turning toward him. By the question in his voice, he obviously didn't recognize Peter's voice, but that was to be expected since they hadn't seen—ah—been around each other in a decade in a half.

“It's Peter Hale,” Peter said, and Deucalion's chin tilted up in recognition. “It's been a long time.”

“It has,” Deucalion said, switching the basket in his hand to the other so he could offer it for a shake. His mouth curved in a smile, and Peter was privately glad that Deucalion couldn't see the way he was staring at his lips. “I have only been in the region for two days.”

Peter took Deucalion's hand, giving it a firm shake, and he let his fingers linger just a moment or two. “May I ask why?” he asked, raking his eyes down the man's body. He was just as handsome as he remembered, maybe a bit more lithe now and with a touch of gray to his hair, but still a man of striking features. 

“I've moved here,” the blind wolf replied simply, his mouth quirking up further.

Peter blinked. “You have?” he asked. He wanted to bombard the other man with questions. Why had he decided to come to Beacon Hills? What happened with his pack in New Mexico? Was he giving up his status entirely? Was he _retiring?_ All of these questions bounced around in his head, but he knew that they were inappropriate, especially when they were standing in the middle of a market. 

“I have. I'm meeting with your nephew officially tomorrow,” Deucalion said, turning his head away, probably to put his ear towards Peter.

Peter could see the milky blue of his eyes behind his sunglasses now. Deucalion had always fascinated him, not just in the way he overcame his physical disadvantage, but in the way he carried himself, so proper and refined. In the three months that he and the other alphas had been in Beacon Hills, he and Peter had not interacted much, and they had never been alone. Peter had wanted to talk to him, maybe pick his wonderful brain a bit, once the fight with the hunters had been over, but Deucalion had left too quickly afterward. 

Perhaps this was Peter's chance. “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” he asked, smiling as one of Deucalion's eyebrows quirked up. “I'm making lamb, and I'd love to make dinner for two.”

Deucalion was silent for a few heartbeats, before his lips spread in a smile. “I do love lamb.”

“Wonderful,” Peter said, taking a step toward him and turning so they were side by side. “Would you like to take my arm?” When Deucalion reached out and did just that, his elegant fingers curling around the inside of his elbow, Peter started toward the starches. “Which do you prefer with your lamb, sweet potato or rhubarb?”

“I would have to say rhubarb,” Deucalion said, showing teeth with his smile now.

“Then rhubarb it is.”

###### 

On the day of the first run where the twins were old enough to shift and go out, Talia and Johnnie were both bouncing off the walls, two little balls of energy that were using every piece of furniture as trampolines. Stiles and Derek didn't even try to contain them. They just corralled them for lunch and dinner and let them do whatever they pleased otherwise. The only thing that kept them from tearing around the house as wolf pups was the rule that there was no shifting in the house. It was a good thing too, because if they tried to run on the hardwood they'd slip and slide all over it as they lost traction, ultimately scratching the floors and causing Derek to implode.

About the time the moon was nearly at its highest and Derek said he could feel other wolves coming onto the preserve, Stiles moved into the kid's room and found Talia jumping up and down on her bed squealing 'Alpha! Alpha! I'm alpha!' She was wearing her wolf pajamas, complete with paw pad booties and a hood with triangle ears.

“Okay, little miss alpha,” Stiles said as he went over to her bed and grabbed her out of the air to pull her onto his hip, then he looked around. “Where's your brother?” She pointed down at the gap between Johnnie's bed and the floor. After setting Talia back down, he went to his hands and knees and looked under the bed to find Johnnie poised against the wall. Stiles blinked as his son growled at him. “What are you doing, buddy?”

“My den!” Johnnie announced, baring fangs and pawing at him with a clawed hand. Then he giggled and made a noise like 'rawr!'

Stiles snorted, turning to put his shoulder against the ground. “How about you protect your den when we get home from the run? It's time to shift.” He grinned as Johnnie's eyes went wide, and then suddenly Stiles's arms were full of toddler werewolf. He got up and snatched up Talia too, before moving out into the living room. Both of his kids were silly masses of giggling, and it was so infectious that he was laughing too. Derek was waiting for them in the entryway with the puppy leashes that would keep the twins tethered to them. As soon as Stiles set his kids down, they shifted into little wolves.

Johnnie was mostly dark brown with lighter highlights interwoven through his back, head and chest. He had white tufts on his belly and the fringes that fanned out from the backs of his legs. He was pure excitement, wagging his tail so hard that his entire butt swished back and forth as he danced on his front paws. His tongue lolled out of his mouth as he grinned, and Derek was barely able to fit the halter onto him since he was trying to vibrate through the floor. 

Like the opposite side of a coin, Talia was eerily calm and still. She was black just like her daddy, but instead of an all consuming shadow, her fur gleamed a steel blue-gray when the light hit it. She dipped her head and lifted her front paws as Stiles put the halter on her, gazing up at him with expectant brown eyes. This was a rare kind of restraint for her, as if the moment she wrapped herself in a wolf's fur, she became composed and graceful just like Derek. It was a tad frightening while also being amazing.

Derek picked up Johnnie while Stiles got Talia, and after attaching their puppies to themselves and going out onto the porch, they shifted as well. Stiles walked down the front steps with Talia looking around excitedly next to him, eagerly taking in the world with her enhanced senses. Derek lingered on the steps, looking back as Johnnie cowered on the front porch, apparently overwhelmed. After a low, reassuring noise from Stiles didn't have any affect, Derek locked his maw over the back of Johnnie's neck and carried the curled pup down to the ground.

“It's alright, buddy,” Stiles promised his son, and Johnnie belly crawled across the grass to slot himself in the safety of being underneath Stiles's body, head under his own paws. “We won't let anything happen to you.” Stiles dropped his head to nuzzle and nibble gently along Johnnie's neck and shoulders. “Don't you want to go see Zoe?”

“Zoe?” Talia asked, perking up immediately, before she abandoned a beetle she had been terrorizing to lope over and paw her brother's head. “Johnnie, Johnnie—Zoe! Let's go get Zoe!” She started pulling on Johnnie's ear, earning a whine.

“Okay,” Johnnie said, standing up and pushed his shoulder against his sister's.

“Race you!” Talia announced, bounding away before she ended up on her back when the tether snapped taut. “Oh,” she said, blinking up at the sky.

Derek snorted, and Stiles nosed under his chin affectionately. “Let's go,” Stiles said, stepping out of the leash looped around his front paws, before he went over and tickled Talia's furry belly with his muzzle. She squealed and flailed her legs before he let her get up.

Getting a correct speed down for all of them to go was a bit tricky. Derek and Stiles both had significantly longer legs than their kids, so they were capable of strides twice or even three times as long. They tried a slow lope as first, but their kids quickly reached the ends of their leashes and had to be jerked back. When Stiles and Derek ran, the kids fell behind. It was about five minutes of trial and error, and by the time they reached a good pace that they could all maintain, they reached the clearing where the other wolves were waiting.

They saw Allison and Scott first, which meant Zoe wasn't far behind. The little wolf came zooming by, bowling over Johnnie and hopping Talia like a hurdle, before she continued streaking through the clearing like a little cannon ball of fur.

“Remember to stay in the tree line!” Allison called after her. She had a singular pup sling on her shoulders, and Antonio was sleeping and most likely drooling into her fur.

“Yes, mommy!” Zoe howled, still running as fast as her legs would carry her.

Allison huffed out a laugh, sitting down and turning to look at Derek and Stiles. “Everyone showed up to the run, including the new wolves in town,” she told them, before she jerked her nose toward some wolves that were off to the side of the regular pack. 

Stiles took in their details, noticing a couple pups that looked excited and scared and adorable. He had already met them. It was his job as a region alpha's mate to get to know the wolves in their territory, just it was Scott and Allison's job, as their right and left hands, to keep track of any new wolves that moved in. They were all kind people, and Stiles was looking forward to planning play dates for Talia and Johnnie to get to know their children.

Then there was Deucalion, who Stiles spotted off to the side, half hidden in the trees. He was an elegant wolf of all angles and long lines, sharp snout with slim limbs. He looked black, a pure black like Derek, but when the moon's rays drifted his way there was a blue sheen to his fur. There were wisps of white around his cheeks and nose, as well as down his back, showing his age. His eyes looked white from were Stiles was sitting.

Next to Deucalion was Peter, broader in chest, head and legs black with silver highlights. He wasn't just next to Deucalion, he was _right next_ to him, their shoulders touching. As Stiles watched, Deucalion turned his head and pressed the top of his nose into Peter's neck, and Peter set his chin on top of Deucalion's head. 

When had _that_ happened?

As Derek moved around to greet all of the wolves, Johnnie sticking close, Stiles and Talia joined Scott in playing chase with Zoe. Talia seemed really into the game until she suddenly stopped dead, still as an undisturbed lake, and gazed out into the trees. She had her tail straight up, and the hair on her back was standing on end.

“Talia?” Stiles questioned really softly, afraid to move lest she explode.

“Bunny,” she replied in a hiss, before she dropped her head and edged closer.

“Leave it alone,” Stiles warned her.

She ignored him, taking one more slow step toward the woods, before she launched herself. There was a loud snap where Stiles was honestly worried she just killed the poor rabbit, but she came back with a clean, empty mouth. For a second he thought her eyes flashed red, but that was impossible. She was only three. It must have been a trick of the moonlight. Still, he kept a close eye on her as they subtly made their way over to Peter and Deucalion.

Well, as subtly as they could, because when Talia realized that was her uncle, she made a beeline right for him.

“Unca Peter!” she said, colliding with Peter's chest and causing him to give an 'oof!' of surprise.

“Hello, sweetheart,” Peter said as Talia turned and sat between his front legs, panting and happy. “And hello, Stiles. Good to see you.”

“Hello, Peter,” Stiles said as he sat in front of them, then turned his eyes to the other wolf. “Deucalion.”

“Mr Stilinski-Hale,” Deucalion replied with a curt nod of his head. His milky blue eyes were unfocused, but he still gave Stiles rapt attention. “Peter had been telling me all about the wolves that live in the region. I had my own trials heading New Mexico, but Derek is leading a state nearly three times the size. I think it is because he has such a supportive mate. You're both doing an exceptional job.”

“Thank you,” Stiles said, the edges of his mouth twitching up. That was a wonderful compliment to receive from another regional alpha that had reigned for over three decades himself before passing his territory down to a younger alpha. Stiles knew that Derek was going to rely on Deucalion's expertise as an adviser should he need to.

Stiles learned that Deucalion was staying in Peter's extra room for now as he got used to the territory, and he burned to ask them if there was something deeper there, but neither of them felt very open to such personal questions. They were both very dramatically mysterious. Damn, they'd be perfect for each other. They could recite Shakespearean poetry back and forth then make out like teenagers.

Stiles needed to stop thinking about it.

Derek came over after a while, greeting them and nudging his nose behind Deucalion's ear as the blind wolf bent his head in a show of submission to a higher alpha. Waves of contentment were rolling off of his mate, and Stiles bumped their noses together to show him that he was just as happy. Their pups were bounding around them, moon-infused and ridiculous.

But then Talia stopped in front of Deucalion, looking up at him like she only just now got a good look. “Your eyes are weird,” she said bluntly, and he tilted his head down.

“Ah, now it's time to go. Sorry,” Stiles said as he nudged his baby away with his nose.

“It's perfectly fine,” Deucalion assured him, humor in his voice. He turned his head and laid his ear against Peter's shoulder blade.

The wolves in the clearing went their separate ways to enjoy the feeling of the moon on their back and the earth under their paws. Derek and Stiles led their pups deep into the preserve. They had their pace down pat, and they ran until the pups and Stiles were out of breath. Derek had a kind of stamina that was almost unnatural, even for a werewolf. They stopped at a formation of large flat rocks that stuck out of one of the hills that gave the town its name. The largest of the rocks was probably one that Stiles called Pride Rock, because he had no impulse control.

Derek jogged out to the top of this rock, standing tall and proud and beautiful. Johnnie followed, going between his daddy's legs and looking a bit terrified. But as the pup looked out over the town with all its yellow, blue and red lights then up at the clear sky where the moon was hanging low and full, surrounded by twinkling stars, he stood up taller. A breeze played through his fur, and he wagged his tail as his tongue flopped out of his widely grinning mouth. 

Talia beat Stiles to the edge of the rock, looking over it and panting with joy. She leaned as far as she could, fearless of falling to her death, but Stiles hurried to grab her by her scruff and tug her back. She settled between his front legs, and he dragged the flat of his long tongue across her face. His sweet little reckless princess. He looked up and found Derek watching them, so he licked his nose too just because he could.

Derek snorted, before he looked out over his territory. Stiles half expected him to tell his kids 'someday, everything you see will be yours.' But, instead, he tossed his big head back and let out a howl that would carry for miles and miles. Stiles joined in, harmonizing with his mate, and soon the kids did the same.

Wolves all around them answered back, and Stiles could pick out the most familiar howls in the pack. Scott was wildly enthusiastic and pushing his lungs hard, while Allison was calm, so her howl would last twice as long as his. Lydia's howl was like a song, and Jackson's was as powerful as his lacrosse passes. Boyd was a contained baritone, and Erica was an exuberant contralto. Danny and Ethan were perfect dual sounds, nearly indiscernible from each other. Isaac brought up the back with his sweet voice.

All the other wolves returned their call, and last was Peter, his howl clear as a bell, and Deucalion, who somehow managed to sound refined and _British_ in a howl, and Stiles was never going to let that one go.

They stayed on the rock for a long time, just listening to the sounds of nature and watching the town wind down for the night. Talia and Johnnie chased each other and bugs. They both went nuts when a lizard was unfortunate enough to scamper before them, and they made the poor thing run for its life. As lights starting going out in the houses of the neighborhoods and the moon moved across the sky, the activity in the forest wound down. Wolves were starting to head home, and the twins were losing energy fast.

Stiles was leaning against his husband, feeling at peace and also fighting his heavy eyelids by the time Derek moved. He jerked a bit, licking his chops and wondering what time it was. He glanced down at their pups to find them curled up together, dozing. They were so sweet that he didn't want to disturb them, but they would be happier in the morning to wake up in a bed. So would Stiles.

It took some coaxing, but Derek and Stiles got the kids up and started toward the house. It was a long walk, and Stiles was not surprised when Johnnie just flopped onto his side and refused to walk any further, as if he'd prefer to be dragged. Derek picked him up in his jaws. Talia dropped on her butt shortly afterward and started to whine, so Stiles lifted her by her scruff. The kids fell back to sleep for the rest of the journey.

The twins were floppy and dead to the world as Stiles and Derek carried them into the house. They changed them into their wolf jammies and tucked them into bed, and Stiles took a moment to admire the beautiful creatures that he and Derek had made. They were just so perfect that it made his eyes misty. He completely understood when parents said that their greatest accomplishment in their lives were their children.

Derek gently took his hand, squeezing his fingers and pulling him out of the room. Stiles allowed himself to be lowered onto their bed, and he sighed softly as Derek curled around him, pressing his nose into his hair and taking a deep breath. “I love you,” Derek told him, his hand rubbing up and down the flat of Stiles's stomach, gently brushing through the trail of hair and his c-section scar. 

“Love you more,” Stiles mumbled back, turning and smiling at Derek's snort of laughter. “I do.”

“Wanna bet?” Derek challenged as he pressed his lips to Stiles's jaw then started moving languidly down, in absolutely no hurry.

“Mm.” Stiles tipped his head to the side to give him all the access he wanted.

###### 

Giggling woke him, and he slowly opened his eyes to find two sets of eyes staring over the side of the bed at him. “Hey, you two,” he said with a yawn reaching over to poke them both in the middle of their foreheads. “What're you doing?” 

They squealed, before they shoved some handmade cards at him. “Happy birthday, Papa!” They climbed onto the bed, barely letting him sit up against the pillows before they draped over him, still clothed in their wolf jammies. 

“Well, this is a surprise! Let me see these,” Stiles said as he opened Talia's card. 

Glitter spilled out onto his lap, and he would worry about that when he wasn't trying not to cry from joy. The word 'happy' was spelled with only one P, and there was a letter scratched out before 'birthday'. Then there was a rainbow and a cartoon wolf (he assumed).

Johnnie's card thankfully was lacking glitter, but it was covered in smiley faces. 'Happy birthday' was spelled correctly, but the As were backwards. That was fine, because it was a valiant effort from the three-year-old.

He kissed them both, hugging them tight enough that they giggled and struggled against him. “My sweet babies. I love you so much,” he told them.

“Any love left for me?” Derek asked from the doorway, holding a breakfast tray with a little vase that had a daisy sticking out of it.

“If that's French toast, there is,” Stiles told him, taking a deep breath of sugar and coffee.

Derek just grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to [WhatTheHale](http://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthehale) for the beta read. Now my ranting makes some sense.
> 
> So I had intended for this chapter to be much shorter, maybe half as much? It went like this "Okay, here we go, chapter one! *19k words later* Shit, shit, okay, gotta end this, aah!" The good news is that this sets the standard for the lengths of the remaining chapters. The bad news is that it'll take a while for me to post them...depending on my inspiration level. Honestly I have ten pages of outlined events, and this chapter only covered a page and a half. I hope you guys are down for a long haul. xD
> 
> Moving on.
> 
> Families are getting bigger! Expect more children from all around the pack.
> 
> Peter and Deucalion are dating, gasp! I know there was a bit of a history info dump in that scene where they meet again, and I hope that wasn't too clunky. I thought about writing an actual flashback, but it would have taken away from the theme of the story. However, I did write one very personal ~~porny~~ scene between them. To read it, [go here.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/945159) It takes place a few months later.
> 
> If you have any questions about this universe, feel free to ask me. :D Also, I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter.
> 
> EDIT: Do you guys think Stiles and Derek should have more kids? Comment if so. Also feel free to throw out suggestions for other growing families.
> 
> EDIT 2: Is the passing of time through this chapter a little unintelligible? If it is, I'll add Such and Such Time later before each scene. I have the whole thing worked out on a timeline, so it would be easy enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pack keeps getting bigger. Some bonds grow stronger while one is broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by [WhatTheHale](http://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthehale).

Isaac was the best babysitter ever, or so he had been told. He loved kids. Kids were his life, which is why he had changed his major in college from engineering to child development and his minor to early childhood education. His associate's degree had been predictably paid for by funds he had earned babysitting.

He had so many kids that he had been with for years. First off there had been Zoe, a feisty little girl that had challenged him from six months to six years. He was still the only one that knew all of her hiding places, and she was the only kid he'd ever watched that had startled him so bad during a game of hide and seek that he'd exploded into fur. He had never turned into a wolf so quickly.

Antonio, Zoe's little brother, was quite unlike his sister. He was about as calm and easy to put down as you could ever ask in a werebaby. He liked his routine of breakfast, snack, lunch, nap, snack, dinner, bedtime, and he rarely deviated from it. He also pooped on schedule too, which was a blessing, and Isaac had quickly learned his poo face. It was as about as satisfied as a baby could look. He had never projectile peed on Isaac like one little boy he knew, so he got a gold star in Isaac's book.

The twins were another case entirely, so different at times it was baffling to think that they were related and so alike other times that even though they were fraternal Isaac had found himself mixing up their names.

Talia was a bit of a terror. She was headstrong, outspoken (with her rapidly increasing vocabulary) and dominant. She was queen of the playground castle and mistress of the swings. She wasn't very patient when it came to other kids, preferring to push them out of the way instead of waiting her turn. The only kid she ever allowed ahead of her was her brother and that was only if he called her 'alpha.' She could also switch on her charm like a light, which made it impossible to stay upset with her. Dangerous, that one.

Johnnie, the other half of the twin set, was quiet, reserved and bent to his sister's will. Usually. As far as Isaac could tell, he'd go along with what Talia wanted because if she was bossing other kids around on the playground, then he didn't have to. If need be, he could be fiercely protective of his sister. One time another kid pushed Talia down, and Johnnie brought out his claws and fangs and tackled him. He hadn't seem to understand why wolfing out on another kid was inappropriate behavior, but he had only been two and a half at the time.

There were plenty of other kids that he watched over. There was Lisa, a five-year-old that was extremely creative but also thought that it was a good idea to share her creativity in the form of finger paint and markers all over the walls. Bryce was a very athletic twelve-year-old that didn't think he needed a babysitter and walked around in his baseball outfit at almost all times. Addie was six and a climber, and her favorite activity was to perch on top of bookcases and entertainment systems and make bird noises. Sophia was an eight-year-old princess that insisted on making sure Isaac's toes were always painted. There were several others within the ages of two and ten that he saw every now and then.

Two kids had grown out of needing his services. Camden had been thirteen when Isaac had started looking after him. Now he was seventeen, which meant he was old enough to watch himself and his little brother, Tim, who was ten. Isaac missed those boys, and he made sure to greet them if he ever saw them out and about.

A new addition to his group of kids was Pavel. He had been adopted from Russia by Danny and Ethan, and he was the cutest little kid in the world with his huge blue eyes and hair that was so curly that it was bordering on unruly. Isaac had been watching him one to two days a month ever since he was six months old, and now that he was twelve months his daddies were letting Isaac care for him more often. 

The only issue with having more days with Pavel was that it meant he had to rearrange his whole schedule. He was already balancing so many kids at once that it was starting to get extremely difficult. He wanted to make sure that he gave each kid enough attention and allowed the parents breaks to have some time to themselves. So Isaac decided to take the one obvious action.

He opened up a daycare, specializing in werewolf children. 

Isaac had been sitting on the nest egg that was his dad's life insurance payment for years. He hadn't known what to do with it, hadn't even wanted to touch it because of all the memories that came up when he thought about his father. He had been reluctant to use the money because he didn't want to rely on the old man, even though he was dead and couldn't be condescending about Isaac's choices anymore. He also didn't want to find himself using the money for something that would make himself happy as payback for all of the times his father had hurt him. So he just left it alone.

Finally he realized that using the money to open a place where he could take care of his kids wasn't giving in or revenge. It was moving on. 

The building Isaac chose was perfect. It was located right on the town line, between the apartments within the limits and the suburbs outside of them. It was a disused scrap yard with a building of six rooms, complete with two bathrooms for boys and girls and a kitchen. There was very little remodeling needing to the building, mostly laying down carpeting and putting in wiring for cable and phone. But the outside was a different story. Most of the big pieces of scrap metal had been removed, but the yard was littered with smaller pieces that they had to collect and get rid of.

Most of the yard was grass, but there was one large patch that was just hard dirt were the big pieces of metal had been laid out. Inside of tilling the dirt and trying to grow some grass, Isaac and his team (which consisted of Derek, Scott, Boyd and some hired workers) put down a sand pit. Derek whipped up a design for a jungle gym with two slides, plenty of interactive puzzle and spinning picture walls, even built in mini-guns that could be hooked up to a hose during the hottest months. There were two swing sets on either side of the gym with plenty of seats to hopefully discourage fighting.

The remodeling took weeks, and by the end of it Isaac had sunk pretty much all of his funds into the daycare. He would have been worried about that had not the parents of all of his kids already enrolled their children. The first week was more hectic than Isaac could have possibly imagined. He was used to dealing with at most two kids at a time, so having a dozen at once was chaos. He managed it, but only just, and by the end of the weekend, when he only had a couple kids, he was run ragged and had fallen asleep on one of the couches while reading a story.

He had so many kids to be cared for that he figured he had to hire another worker. He had Stiles and Danny, the resident pack computer whizzes, put out ads all over the internet for him. Isaac put an extra one in the paper, just in case. Many people answered the ads on the websites. A few of them were teenagers with no experience, most likely looking for a summer job, and he politely turned them down. There were two college students that had babysitting experience, but their hours weren't quite flexible enough. The four people that he had hired hadn't been able to handle it, so he had let them all go. Apparently trying to find people on the Internet was harder than he had been led to believe. So, Isaac was resigning himself to working alone, which he would do to the best of his ability because it wasn't his sleeping schedule that mattered; it was the kids.

It was nap time, so the kids were all on coats, some curled up and some spread out like starfish. Isaac moved through them, pulling their blankets up over their shoulders and gently moving their limbs back onto the cots. Talia and Johnnie had moved their cots on either side of Tony's, and Zoe had pushed her cot against the head of the other three, making sure she was within reach of all of them. 

There was a jingle of the front door bell, which made Pavel let out a little whine and roll over in his crib. Isaac ran the backs of his fingers along the little boy's cheek then through his curls before heading to the entryway. He smiled when he found someone he didn't immediately recognize. He was a tall, slim black werewolf with dark eyes and shoulder length dreads pulled back in a low ponytail. On his hip, he was holding a little girl, her skin a few shades lighter than the man's and blue eyes. Her thick black hair was pulled up into puffy double poms. She had a bright blue pacifier in her mouth and was looking around eagerly.

“Hi,” Isaac said as he came into the small entryway. “Welcome to Building Blocks Daycare. I'm Isaac.” He offered his hand to the man.

“I'm Grayson,” the man said as he shifted the little girl over to his other hip to shake Isaac's hand. “And this is my daughter, Kateryna. She goes by Rena.”

“Hello, Rena,” Isaac said, and the little girl looked at him, sniffing, before she giggled and smiled around her pacifier. Isaac looked back to Grayson. “I haven't seen you around before. New to the town?”

“That small of an area, is it?” Grayson replied, nodding. “We just moved in last week.”

Isaac let his smile broaden. “Are you looking for a daycare service?”

“Yes, but that's not all,” Grayson said as he shifted the little girl again to pull a newspaper clipping out of his back pocket. He unfolded it and showed it to Isaac. “I'm looking for a job.”

After going to get his clipboard of interview questions, Isaac led Grayson and Rena out onto the back porch. He could look in through the clear glass doors at his sleeping munchkins, and Grayson could watch Rena as she ran around on the playground. She quickly proclaimed herself queen of the castle since she was the only one there.

“How old is she?” Isaac asked, smiling at her antics. He guessed not too much older than two years.

“Twenty-nine months,” Grayson said as he leaned back in the porch chair, crossing one ankle over the other.

Isaac forced his eyes not to linger like they wanted too. “She's really cute.” He cleared his throat and looked down at his clipboard. “Okay, hm. Can you tell me about your experience with children?” 

“I used to teach Kindergarten.”

“Used to?” Isaac asked, writing that down as he lifted a brow. “The pay here isn't that bad, but it wouldn't be as much as a teacher.”

“The pay isn't important,” Grayson said, before he paused and flicked his eyes around. “Well, it _is_ , but it's not the most important thing. I want to be able to spend more time with my daughter before she goes off to preschool, and working as a teacher wasn't giving me that opportunity.”

“Mother or other father not around?” Isaac asked carefully.

Shaking his head, Grayson looked back out at the playground. “Natalka died when Rena was only a few months old.”

“I'm sorry to hear that,” Isaac said, a little pained.

“Her health had always been weak,” Grayson said, lifting his hand to twisting a silver wedding band there back and forth. “She was human, and birthing a werewolf child seemed to be the last thing her body could take.” He seemed to realize was he was doing and dropped his hand. “Anyway, after she died, I gave up teaching to be with my daughter at all times. But now my savings are nearly gone, and I need a job.” 

“Oh, well, I've got a few more questions for you then...” 

By the time Grayson and Rena were ready to leave, it was almost six at night. All of the other kids were already gone. Rena had been a ball of energy almost the entire time, but in the last five minutes she had flopped onto one of the couches and was out like a light. Grayson was helping Isaac pick up all the toys that had been left out by the kids, talking about a series of children's books he was in the process of writing.

“I want to focus on imaginative thinking as well as word association and vocabulary growth,” Grayson said as he filled his arms with dinosaurs and Barbies and walked them over to one of the toy chests. 

“Now those would be great additions to have here,” Isaac said as he walked over and lifted the toy chest lid with his foot since both he and Grayson had full hands. 

Grayson let out a laugh as he dusted off his hands. “And being here would definitely help with figuring out what content works best with what age groups.” 

“You're not going to work here for a while then ditch us when you became a super famous writer, are you?” Isaac teased, before he went to go turn off the lights in the other rooms and check for any toys or books they missed.

Grayson followed him, hands in his pockets. “I really doubt I'll ever be famous,” he said with a modest tilt of his head. “And even if I was, I don't think I'd ever give up looking after kids. I love them too much.”

“Well, when can you start?” Isaac asked as he bent down to pick up a plastic book with bubble pages. 

“You're hiring me?” Grayson asked.

“Yes, you're perfect,” Isaac said confidently, before he flushed a little as Grayson lifted a brow. “For the job. You're perfect _for the job._ ” He tossed the book playfully at the other man when he gave a cheeky grin. “Shut up.”

“When do you need me by?” Grayson asked, going over to put the book on one of the lower shelves.

Isaac wasn't looking at his butt. No, of course not. “Can you come in tomorrow? Say 9am?”

“Sure, I'll bring coffee,” Grayson said as he went over to the couch to pick up his daughter.

“Wow, gunning for a promotion already. You move fast.”

Grayson just flashed him a wide, cheeky grin. “See you tomorrow.”

###### 

Derek loved his job, he did, and he was good at it. But he hated when it took him away from his family. Usually he was only gone for three or four days at most, but this trip had kept him away for two weeks. It was supposed to be a couple days longer, but he had worked himself near to the bone and with very little sleep to cut the trip short. He hadn't told Stiles that he was coming back early, because he wanted to surprise him and the kids. 

When he got home, it was almost noon, and he had three pizzas in one hand and his keys in the other, trying to be as quiet as possible for maximum effect. But the living room was empty, which was strange because it was Sunday, and that was usually cartoons and crafts day. The floor usually looked like Crayola vomited all over it. He went into the dining room to see if his mate and kids were already eating, but he didn't see them. So he set down the pizzas and went to sniff them out.

They weren't in either of the kid's rooms, nor were they outside playing. He found them all in the master bedroom, passed out on the bed with a Disney movie still playing on the TV. Derek took a moment to stop, leaning against the door frame, and just looked, a smile playing across his lips. There were markers all over the bed and a white sign across all their laps with the unfinished words 'Welcome home, Da...' in all different colors with rainbows, stickers and the little cartoon wolves that Talia was getting better at drawing. 

His kids were getting so big. They were only a couple months away from being four-year-olds, and the time that had passed since they were born felt like a blink. They weren't tiny anymore, but they would always be his little babies. It wouldn't be long before they started to Show. No matter how many conversations and observations he and Stiles had made, neither of them could guess with certainty what they would be: alpha, beta or omega.

He discarded his jacket and his shoes on the way to the bed, gently picking up the poster and the markers to set them gently on the floor. Then he slowly pulled back the covers to get under them with his family. Suddenly he noticed that Stiles was wearing one of his shirts, one that Derek liked to sleep in. It was completely saturated in his scent, which is what Stiles must have wanted. Edging closer, he gently brushed his fingers along Stiles's cheek.

Stiles stirred just a little, blinking his eyes open slowly, before they widened when he saw Derek. He smiled widely and opened his mouth before he realized the kids were dead asleep and shut it again. He turned to look over his shoulder at the clock, before he whispered, “You're home early. We weren't expecting you until Tuesday.”

“I missed you guys too much,” Derek said, dropping his hand to touch the collar of the shirt Stiles was wearing. 

Stiles made a little 'aww' sound, leaning forward as much as he could without disturbing Johnnie between them or Talia on his other side. “We missed you too, daddy,” he said, pressing his lips gently to Derek's before lying back again.

Derek put his arm gently over all three of them, smiling as he let the weariness of his trip and happiness that he was home pull him down into sleep. He dreamed about kids, quite a few of them, running around in a yard. He saw some familiar faces as well as some kids he didn't know, all playing together with the pack around them, keeping them safe. He saw Stiles, his belly swollen, smiling and beautiful. 

When he woke up, it was to his oxygen being expelled from his lungs because there were two kids jumping up and down on top of him screaming, “Daddy's home! Daddy's home!” He managed to wrestle them into his arms, play biting at their necks and ears, and they squealed, laughing and wriggling to get away. Once they got their hands on him, they started kissing his face all over until he was the one breathless with laughter.

“Okay, munchkins,” Derek said, sitting up and hugging them to his chest. “I'm glad to see you too. How about you go into the dining room for lunch. I brought home pizza.”

That had the kids racing out of the room, chanting 'Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!'

As they got out of bed, Derek caught Stiles by the tail of the shirt he was wearing, tugging him close and wrapping his arms around his waist. “I see you're wearing my shirt,” he said, nuzzling him behind the ear before planting a kiss there.

Stiles smiled, letting his head fall back, and Derek took the chance to kiss down the pale skin. “I missed your scent,” Stiles admitted, picking idly at the hem of the shirt. “So I might have dug this out of the dirty clothes.” When Derek snorted, he turned his head to stick his tongue out. “It's not _that_ dirty.”

“It's alright. You're gross,” Derek said as he took Stiles's hips in his hands and steered him toward the dining room where the kids were waiting. 

They had the pizza boxes open, and they looked disappointed. “They're cold,” Talia said, poking each slice of pepperoni pizza as Johnnie did the same to the cheese one.

“That's what the microwave is for,” Stiles said as he swept up the boxes and took them over to the counter. “Did you two wash your hands?” There was some vague mumbling from the kids, and he rolled his eyes. “Maybe we're all gross.” 

After they all inhaled far too much pizza, they went into the living room to catch the rest of the Disney movie marathon. The kids splayed out on the floor on cushions from the loveseat, and Derek pulled Stiles against his side on the sofa. As they watched, Johnnie moaned pitifully, turning over to watch upside down. When he complained that his tummy hurt, Talia started to rub her hand on it in a circle.

Derek smiled as he watched, and then his dream came flooding back to him. All at once he saw so many children playing and a happy, pregnant Stiles. He turned his head to look at him. “Have you thought about having more kids?” he asked, and Stiles's head whipped around so fast that he bonked his forehead into Derek's nose. “Ow,” Derek said, more for effect than anything, because it didn't actually hurt.

“That's a hell of a question to spring on me,” Stiles hissed softly, glancing at the twins before looking up again. “Why are you asking now?”

“It just came to me,” Derek said, pulling his lips to the side and flicking his eyes toward the kids then back to his mate. “They're starting preschool soon, which would give us more time to look after an infant.”

“And by that you mean give _me_ more time, since you'll be at the office Monday through Friday.” He just rolled his eyes when Derek took on a bit of a guilty look, because yeah, that kind of had been what he meant. “I was actually thinking about going back to the office part time while the kids are at school. I can get a lot more done there than I can at home with just my laptop.” He tilted his head. “Danny wants to take those days off to be with Pavel.”

“Oh,” Derek said, dropping his eyes.

“I was going to tell you soon.”

“Don't worry about it,” Derek said, leaning his cheek against Stiles's forehead. “It was just a passing thought.”

“You sure?” Stiles asked, and when Derek nodded he pressed closer. “I'm not stomping all over your dreams of having a whole litter of brats, right?”

Derek snorted, putting both his arms around Stiles and hugging him. “No. I'm happy with two we have.”

“If you're sure,” Stiles said slowly.

###### 

The twins were going to preschool in a couple weeks, so Stiles dragged everyone out of the house to go get supplies. If it had been up to Derek, they would have ordered everything online, because he was a silly wolf like that. But Stiles knew from experience that Back to School sales were where the real savings were at. Besides that, he wanted the kids to be able to pick out their own things by touching them as opposed to just poking at things on the computer.

When they got to the store, they headed straight for the backpacks. The row of bags was quite impressive, separated with boys on one side and girls on the other. The girls side was blindingly pink, but Talia didn't seem at all interested in any of the Disney princesses. Johnnie went straight for a Batman backpack, refusing to let it go even when Stiles unzipped it to see if there was a place to put a tag inside.

“Daddy!” Talia said, jerking on Derek's pant leg and jumping up and down as she pointed up. 

“Which one?” Derek asked as he looked up. Talia's only answer was to continue pointing insistently. He touched an Avengers one, before she shook her head. He got the same response to Ninja Turtles and Star Wars. He dropped his hand with a sigh. “Which one do you want, sweetheart?”

“That one!” Talia whined, still pointing.

Finally Derek just picked her up and held her up to the backpacks so she could grab it for herself. She ended up tugging a How To Train Your Dragon bag off the shelf, hugging it tightly to her chest with a gleeful little 'eee!' sound. “My dragons!” she announced as she was put down. 

“That's my little khaleesi,” Stiles told her when he ruffled her hair and unzipped the bag to check for a tag as well.

Both bags checked out, so they headed toward the supplies. Talia and Johnnie wore their bags, which was convenient because Stiles was going to stuff them full of things. The list of required supplies that the preschool had mailed out said each kid needed a bag, a folder, a pack of paper, crayons, washable markers, pencils, baby wipes and a box of tissues.

“They only need one folder each,” Derek was saying as Stiles perused the selection of folders.

“Yeah, but, do they need a paper one or a plastic one? Should it have the three ring cut out or no? Should they be solid colors or can they have designs on them?” Stiles babbled, before he glared at the list in his hand. It wasn't giving him any definite answers, and because of that, Talia and Johnnie were liable to end up with ten folders in their bags. He looked over as Derek grunted. “What?”

Derek just went over to the shelf, picking up a Batman folder and then a Spider-Man one. He turned to where Johnnie was playing with the strap of his bag. “Which one, kiddo?” he asked, and Johnnie immediately pointed to the Spider-Man one. So Derek put it in the little boy's bag, before he found two different How To Train Your Dragon folders. One had Hiccup and Toothless on it while the other had Tuffnut and Ruffnut on their double-headed dragon. Talia went for the twins, and Derek slid the folder into her bag. Then he turned to Stiles, who still had fifteen different folders in his hands, and lifted a brow. “Next?” Derek prompted.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him, before he put the folders up. “Rude,” he said, and Derek just flashed him a smile. “Fine, to the drawing utensils!”

Why were there like twenty-five different packs of crayons alone? That was seriously unfair. The most popular packs seemed to be the eight and twelve counts, but Stiles was immediately worried that his kids would be lacking the exact shade of blue or orange needed for an assignment. That was a bit silly, because he was sure a preschool teacher was lenient enough to accept purple grass in a drawing, but he still wanted his kids to have plenty of options.

“Let's just get the twenty-four count packs,” Derek said, sounding bored since Stiles had been comparing all of the available options online.

“But what if they want to draw a really vibrant rainbow?” Stiles countered as he started reading reviews on the Crayola site. 

“I think twenty-four colors is pretty vibrant.” Derek was crouched by the kids, showing them all of the zipper pockets on their backpacks.

“They're not going to use the brown, tan and black crayons in the rainbows, Derek,” Stiles told him with a frown.

“Okay, twenty-one colors.”

“They won't use white or gray either,” Stiles went on.

“Oh, for the love of...” Derek rocked back on his butt and leaned his head against the display of glue sticks. “Wake me when you're done.” He put his arms around the kids when they climbed into his lap. 

“Now you're being a kid,” Stiles chastised, before he frowned deeper as Derek made an exaggerated snoring sound that had the kids giggling and imitating him, though their noises sounded like little piggy snorts. “Fine, maybe I'll get the ninety-six count packs!” Stiles said, throwing up his hands.

“Yes, so they can each lose seventy-two of them,” Derek said, smiling at the kids as they flopped over his arms and pretended to be asleep. It was better than them getting bored and cranky.

“If you're sleeping, you don't get to have opinions,” Stiles told him, waggling his fingers in his direction before he continued to look through the supplies. Then he let out a loud, happy gasp and snatched something off a shelf to shove it in Derek's general direction. “This!” he proclaimed.

Derek leered at it, before he turned his eyes to Stiles's face. “No.”

“What? Why?”

“That's way too much,” Derek told him.

Stiles looked down at the kit in his hands. It wasn't _that_ much. It was a case that opened to sixty-four crayons, eighteen colored pencils, twenty washable markers, a pair of scissors, a pencil sharpener and thirty color pages. It wasn't excessive. It was perfect! “Aww, c'mon,” he whined.

“That won't even fit in their backpacks. Isn't the point of this to find things for them to take to school?” Derek asked, hoisting the kids up so they were draped over his shoulders and he could stand up.

“It...” Stiles floundered a bit, his resolve waning. “It has a handle! They can carry it like a briefcase.” Even as he said that, he knew that his reasoning just wasn't going to cut it. He pushed out his bottom lip, before he dropped the case to his side, his fingers curled around the handle. “Okay, you win.” He made sure not to look at Derek's smug look, instead picking up two packs of twenty-four crayons and thrusting them at him. “But we're still getting the big case for the house, because the supplies we have are worn to nubs.”

“That's fine by me,” Derek said as he set the kids down so he could take the crayons and put them in the backpacks. 

After that, they picked up eighteen count marker packs, twenty-four count colored pencil packs as well as plain graphite pencils. Stiles also insisted on glue sticks, safety scissors and construction paper _just in case_. After they got the baby wipes and tissues, the bags were well and truly stuffed. Derek and Stiles lifted the kids up to the cashier's conveyor belt so they could dump out the bags themselves, and they all took a bit of delight in the destruction. 

When they got home, Derek went to put the backpacks in one of the closets so the kids didn't annihilate their supplies right away, and Stiles opened the Crayola case on the coffee table for them. Stiles went into the kitchen to start lunch, and Derek joined him shortly afterward. They made grilled cheese sandwiches with carrot sticks and apple slices on the side. They couldn't have been occupied for more than twenty minutes, which was why they were both taken aback by what they found in the living room.

The coffee table with littered with colored pages, all of the ones that had come with the case. The kids had moved on, but instead of asking for more paper, they were drawing cartoon murals on the crisp white walls. There were Talia's cartoon wolves, as well as the rainbows and bunnies she liked to draw. Johnnie was drawing his favorite superheroes, including the Bat Signal in the yellow cone.

“Talia, Johnnie!” Derek snapped as Stiles stood there wondering how they had drawn all that so quickly. The kids turned, surprised, and Derek crossed his arms. “What do you think you are doing?”

“Drawing,” Johnnie said, and he couldn't quite pronounce the word correctly just yet, so it sounded like there was an extra R before the -ing.

“Why are you drawing on the wall?” Derek asked, walking over to them and pulling the crayons out of their hands. “You do not do that, do you understand me?” When they nodded, he turned and pointed toward the downstairs bathroom. “Go wash up for lunch. If you draw on the walls again, you're both going in time out and I'm taking away your crayons and markers for a week.” They hurried off, and Derek stepped back to survey the damage with a sigh.

“Well,” Stiles said, putting his hands on his hips and tilting his head at the mural. “At least it's washable.”

Derek just groaned and rubbed at his eyes.

###### 

In the four months or so that Isaac had been working with Grayson, he had learned quite a few things about the man. He was excellent with the kids, which was to be expected, and they loved him to absolute death, possibly because he did the best story voices and tended to sneak them extra cookies. He would rather change diapers than clean the daycare toilets. He sang Queen at the top of his lungs while he vacuumed. He could dance, and he enjoyed reenacting any dance from a Disney movie if it would make one of the girls feel like a princess. 

Grayson was also a giant flirt, quick to smile and tease. Compliments poured from his mouth like water. Isaac would have thought that their impact would be lessened by their frequency, but he still found himself smiling with a flush on his cheeks every time Grayson said his curls were cute and petted them. There was an ease to his touch that made Isaac want to wrap himself around the man and have him for all his own. 

But he didn't, because every now and then he still saw Grayson staring off into space, twisting that silver band on his finger. Isaac didn't want to try to intrude where there was no room for him.

That was why Isaac was completely taken off guard one day when little Rena, very nearly three years of age now, came up to him, tugged on his pant leg and reached up to offer him a folded up piece of yellow construction paper. “What's this?” he asked her, taking it, and she just covered her mouth with her hands and giggled like it was the biggest, best secret in the world. With a smile, he unfolded the note to find words written in green crayon.

  


Isaac blinked a couple times at the note, before he looked up to see Grayson quickly disappear behind the shelves that bisected the main room into a TV area and a place with activity mats, as if he hadn't been watching Isaac and Rena intently. Snorting, Isaac glanced around until he found a wayward marker, checking Yes before he folded it back up. “Take this to your dad,” he told her, and she hurried to comply.

It took about thirty seconds for Grayson to poke his head out from around the shelves. “Want to go to Wings-N-Things this Sunday and watch the game?” he asked, smiling as hard as he possibly could.

Isaac giggled, fighting the urge to hide his blushing face. “Sure.”

On Sunday however, they ran into a problem. Isaac and Grayson were pretty much the go to babysitters of Beacon Hills, which meant they had no idea where to leave Rena for a few hours. The both called a few people, but it was such a short notice that everyone they contacted had plans or were indisposed in some way. Finally, Isaac guiltily called his last resort.

“Hello?” Stiles answered as he picked up.

“Hey, it's Isaac. I know Sunday is family movie and game night for you guys, but I was wondering if you could perhaps watch Rena for a few hours?” Isaac asked, leaning against Grayson's kitchen counter and watching the other man brush Rena's puffy hair.

“Is everything alright? Did something happen to Grayson?”

“No, no, everything's fine,” Isaac quickly assured him. “It's just...” He dropped his voice in embarrassment. “We're going on a date.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a full forty-five seconds before Stiles let out a spastic giggle. “It's about time! We were all waiting for when you two would finally get together. I think I win the pot, because I bet it would be less than six months.”

“I hate you,” Isaac said, dropping his head back and shaking it as Stiles laughed. “Can you watch Rena?”

“Sure, bring her on over. We'll gladly watch your future step-daughter.”

“I reiterate; I hate you. And thanks. See you in a bit.”

When they got to the restaurant, they ate more wings than was probably healthy and both shouted at one of the many TVs around the place. They made friends with a table next to theirs, since they were all rooting for the same team. They talked about their love of the sport and their kids, and Isaac told them that if they ever needed a daycare service to drop by Building Blocks and take a look.

Grayson moved close to Isaac, slinging his arm around his shoulders and excitedly trying to predict the outcome of the game. Isaac tried to pay full attention to what he was saying, but he was deeply distracted by the heat of Grayson's bare arm and what he could feel through his clothes. He smelled fantastic, like crisp soap, the fire red hot sauce of their food and the way the air smells after it rains, which was his natural scent.

As they left Wings-N-Things, Grayson still had his arm over Isaac's shoulders, and Isaac was contemplating lacing their fingers together when Grayson stopped next to his car. “Hey, he said, moving his arm down Isaac's back and turning toward him. “Is it okay if I kiss you?” he asked, and he didn't even let a heartbeat pass, before he added. “I mean, we might not get another chance tonight, so—“

Isaac set his hands on Grayson's cheeks, smiling at him and pulling him in for a gentle kiss. “From now on,” he said, holding Grayson's face close enough their noses brushed. “You don't have to ask.”

Grayson wrapped both arms around Isaac's waist. “Noted,” he said, before he moved in for another kiss.

###### 

Traveling was something Peter did often and did well. In his time, he had been almost all over the world and had seen a great many things he would never forget. He had walked a respectable portion of the Great Wall of China, tested the acoustics of the remaining walls of the Colosseum, tasted the finest Spanish wine in Barcelona, watched the cherry blossoms bloom in Okinawa, been enchanted by the architecture of Prague, and even shed a tear at the beauty of sound by the orchestra in the Sydney Opera House. All of this he had done alone, and that had been fine with him. He had been content.

Then he and Deucalion had gone to France together, and he realized just what he was missing in companionship. They had gone boating is Marseille, inhaling the salt sea air and drinking crisp white grape wine. In Arles, they had attended a flower festival, and Peter had seen Deucalion absolutely giddy with laughter for the first time as the fragrant smells made them both dizzy. On the long, crystal beach in Biarritz, they had laid on the sand until the sun went down and then walked in the low tide, shoes off and Deucalion's hand looped in the crook of Peter's elbow, until they had found a drum circle. Along the strip of amazing shops in Bordeaux, they had spent most of their money, but they now both owned some pretty damn amazing outfits. 

And finally, there was Paris. The cuisine was exquisite, and now Peter was even more of a food snob than he had been before, because he would probably never find fine dining that could compare. Peter had thought the beauty of the trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower would be lost on Deucalion, but instead of staying quiet, he had demanded that Peter describe everything he saw. Peter did just that, detailing the tall buildings of the inner city, to the quaint little shops and bistros and all of the lights that made the streets glow like they were laid in gold.

When Peter had stopped to collect his thoughts and turned to look at his companion, his breath halted when he realized how close they were. Their lips were mere inches apart. Something moved between them, an electricity that pulled them together. When their lips touched, everything changed. The thing that had been between them for a year now, the way they had staved off loneliness with dinners for two and sex, bloomed into something different, something real.

It was cliché, falling in love in Paris, but Peter couldn't bring himself to care. At least now that they were a couple, he could take advantage of Deucalion's shoulder as a pillow on the plane ride back to the States.

After seeing Deucalion back to their apartment so he could fall down onto something soft for at least ten hours, Peter gathered up the gifts for the twins he'd purchased in France and headed over to the Stilinski-Hale residence. Bag hanging from one hand, he went up to the door and knocked. Derek answered, and he smiled once he realized who it was.

“You're back,” Derek said as he stepped back to let him in.

“Just touched down,” Peter said, following Derek into the living room where he set the bag of presents on the couch.

“How was France?”

“French,” Peter answered with a smirk.

To that, Derek snorted and rolled his eyes. “Kids, Uncle Peter's here!” he called out, before he went into the kitchen.

The twins came barreling into the room with a united war cry of “Uncle Peter!” before they latched onto him, wrapping themselves around a leg each. They started talking at the same time, babbling about their preschool, how Talia was half an inch taller than Johnnie, and the toad they'd found in the yard the other day that had peed on their papa when he'd taken it away.

“Do the monster walk!” Talia suddenly cried, interrupting Johnnie as he ranted about a picture of a horse he'd colored recently.

Johnnie gasped, before he said, “Yeah! Yeah! Monster walk!”

Peter smiled down at them, before he started taking wide-legged long strides around the center of the living room as the twins clung and squealed. “Fee-fi-fo-fum,” he began, his dipped dramatically low. “I smell the blood of werewolf pups!” He descended on them, grabbing them as they tried to get away, and pulled them into his arms. He playfully growled and bit at their ears, lips curled over his teeth. They pushed at his cheeks, screaming with laughter, but he held them tight.

“Oh, hey, Peter,” Stiles said as he came into the room. “Ça va?”

Peter's face split into a grin before he had time to think. “Ça va! Ça va?”

“Ça va.” Stiles chuckled, shrugging. “I took two years of French in high school, and that's all I remember. That, and 'omelette du fromage.'” He stepped forward, prying the kids from their holds around Peter's neck. “It's time for lunch. Will you stay, Peter?”

“Of course.”

When they were all situated at the the table, Talia demanded to be allowed to sit on Peter's lap, and he happily lifted her up onto it. The compromise was that she had to finish all her broccoli. She announced that she was going to finish off her plate first, because she was a good girl, and thus began the great broccoli eating race between the twins. 

“So how was traveling with Deucalion?” Stiles eventually asked, and by the way his eyes twinkled, Peter could tell he wanted all the interesting details.

But Peter just smiled, not quite ready to announce his real bond with the other man just yet. “Well, we didn't kill each other, so I think it went well,” he said, before he lifted his cup to take an evasive sip.

“Where is he?” was Derek's question.

“At home sleeping off the jet lag,” Peter replied, glancing down as Talia tipped her head back, cheeks puffed with food and eyebrows pulled down. “He can't sleep on planes like I can.”

“Wa's jet lag?” Talia asked, her mouth still full.

“When you're on a plane for a really long time and you get super tired,” Peter explained, before he poked her cute, upward turned nose. “Swallow your food.”

After lunch, Peter gave the kids their gifts. For Talia, he had found a miniature carousel that moved and played a lullaby. For Johnnie, Peter produced an Eiffel Tower building set, complete with buttons that turned the lights on and off. The kids played with these for a while, before Stiles herded them off for their nap. When he came back, Peter gave him and Derek a box of fine chocolates.

“You know the way straight to my heart,” Stiles said, grinning at him.

After Peter left, he dropped by the market to get a few things then went home. Deucalion was very much unconscious on the bed, so Peter tip-toed around the room, taking off his shoes, socks and pants before climbing into bed. Immediately he was pulled into a calm, drowsy place by Deucalion's scent and the warmth radiating off of him. Peter scooted in close, pressing against his back and sliding his knees up under Deucalion's.

“Mm?” Deucalion shifted, giving a confused sniff before he wrapped his arm around the one Peter had slung over his middle. “Mm.”

“It's not everyday I get to be the big spoon,” Peter said, smiling into his pillow. “It just took an eleven hour plane ride.”

“Enjoy it while you can,” Deucalion slurred, taking Peter's hand to pull it up under his cheek.

“I plan to.”

###### 

It was rare that John had a day off on the weekend, but when he did, he made sure to spend it with his grandchildren. Johnnie was always glued to him when he came over, especially when he found out that he was named for his grandfather. That meant he wanted to be just like him. He also insisted that John be the one to make them meals whenever he was over.

Derek watched them in amusement, Talia in his lap and his laptop in front of him. She was braiding and re-braiding her doll's hair, and he was sending a few emails among his team, only half paying attention as John complained about the unusual ingredients that Johnnie was insisting they put into a sandwich.

“You know that, unlike you, I can die of food poisoning, right?” John asked the little boy as he layered the sourdough sandwich with peanut butter, sliced bananas, marshmallows and _ham_ , of all things. He cut the sandwich in fourths, handing one to the little boy that was sitting on the counter and taking one for himself. “Okay, we'll both try it. On three. One, two...” He bit into the sandwich, his face immediately contorting into a look of agony as he chewed.

Derek chuckled, knowing Stiles was going to be sad he had picked today to run into work for a few hours. Johnnie would probably tell him all about it though.

Johnnie pulled the sandwich out of his mouth, showing him that he had only pretended to bite into it. He was conniving for a four-year-old.

John grabbed a napkin and spat out the chewed up mess. “Nope, can't do it.” He wiped his tongue on the napkin too, before he took Johnnie's portion as the kid giggled. “Brat.” He smiled anyway, shaking his head as he gathered up the disaster of a sandwich and tossed it. “How about we go get something for lunch, huh, kiddo?”

Johnnie threw his arms up in the air with a shout. “Chicken!”

“I guess we're getting chicken,” John said, grabbing the boy under his arms and hefting him up onto his hip. “C'mon, we'll even get the fried stuff since your papa's not here to stop me. We'll be back in a little bit. Anything you want in particular?” he asked, looking to Derek.

Derek looked up from his computer, thinking about it. “Uh, extra rolls?”

“Mac 'n cheese!” Talia suggested with a bounce, lifting her doll high into the air.

“Rolls, mac and cheese, got it,” John said, pulling his keys out of his pocket and spinning them on his finger as he headed for the door. “Be back soon!”

Derek returned to his work, typing as Talia hummed in his lap. He was in the middle of trying to word an email explaining that even if a customer did want solar panels as their house siding, it didn't meant they could actually do that, when the Skype icon showed up at the edge of his screen, shaking and ringing. He clicked it, and then there was Cora's face blown up over his screen.

She grinned at him. “Hey, big brother.”

“Hey, Cora,” Derek said, before he looked down at Talia, who was very distracted with what she was doing. “Sweetheart, look who it is.”

Talia glanced up, before her face lit up and she grinned hugely. “Hey, Auntie Cora!” she said, waving at the screen.

“Hey, cutiepie,” Cora said, returning the wave and leaning in to smile at her. “You're getting so big! I demand you stop growing. I want you to stay little and cute forever.”

“Can't do that,” Talia said with a giggle.

“Oh? Why's that?” Cora asked, and when Talia just shrugged at her, she snorted. “Yeah, get back to me when you can control time.” 

“I'll try,” Talia said, before she slid off of Derek's lap and ran off without another word.

“And now my daughter's going to try to develop control over time and space. Thank you,” Derek said as he leaned back to watch her tear down the hall. He heard her thunder up the stairs shortly afterward.

“If anyone's going to persuade her to do that, it'll be Stiles and all the Doctor Who he watches.” Cora had a point. She cleared her throat, pulling her hair back then laying it over one shoulder. “So I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What's up?” Derek asked, crossing his arms on the table.

“I met someone,” she said, and when Derek blinked at her in surprise, she coughed. “Actually, I met someone several months ago. We're in the same program for studying abroad, and we decided to travel together.”

“Oh,” Derek said, blinking again, before he wondered why she hadn't told him about this before. “What's their name?”

“Joe.”

Joe. As in Joseph? Derek cocked his head, narrowing his eyes at his sister. “Am I going to get to meet him?”

Cora smiled secretively at him. “Yes.”

“When?”

“When I come home.”

Derek leaned in, trying to read anything from her expression. “You're bringing him home with you?”

“Yup,” she said simply.

“And you're not going to tell me anything about him?”

“Nope.” She shook her head, smile growing.

Derek was about to call her rude, but then Talia came rushing back into the room with her musical carousel. “Auntie Cora, lookit!” she said, putting it up onto the table then clambering back into Derek's lap. “Uncle Peter got it for me in Fwance!”

“France,” Derek gently corrected, before the little girl launched into a story about how she had made up a dance to the song it played. Derek looked at Cora, trying to relay to her silently that this conversation wasn't over and that he would not be denied. She just ignored him, smiling victoriously.

###### 

For this month's run meeting, Stiles and Derek had invited Scott and Allison, as well as Zoe and Tony, over to their place. It was all very run of the mill, but a couple hours before the meeting Lydia had called Stiles to ask if she and Jackson could come to the meeting too. Stiles had said of course, because she sounded so antsy. Then, not five minutes later, Derek got a call from Erica to ask if she and Boyd could come to the meeting too. 

It was moments before people were going to arrive, and Derek was worried there wasn't enough food while Stiles was worried his friends were _dying_. 

“I'm sure it's nothing,” Derek said as he stirred the taco meat with a wooden spoon.

“You always think it's nothing,” Stiles said as he paced a three foot trench in the dining room floor. “You're Mister Unflappable.” He scowled when Derek snorted at that, before he jumped out of his skin with a squeak as the door bell rang. “Oh my God!” he said, grabbing his chest.

“Are you going to stand there or answer it?” Derek asked, looking amused as hell, before he gestured toward the door.

“Shut up!” Stiles told him, launching himself at the door so he could shower whoever was there with questions about all this cloak and dagger secrecy. He took a breath as he opened the door, but he was disappointed to find Scott, Allison and the kids instead of someone he actually wanted to see. “Oh, it's you,” he said.

Scott tilted his head, making a face. “You invited us here.”

“I know, I know,” Stiles said, stepping to the side and beckoning them in. The kids immediately ran to the coffee table to join the twins in coloring adventures. Stiles led the parents to the dining room. “It's just Lydia and Erica both called us and asked if they could come to the meeting. They have news or something.”

“Jackson and Boyd coming too?” Scott asked as he and Allison leaned up against the breakfast bar.

“Yeah, and I'm dying to know what's up,” Stiles said as he moved over to the stove and tried to steal a smidge of taco meat from the pan. Derek promptly whacked his knuckles with the spoon, and he jerked his hand back with a little 'ow!' As he walked off, he muttered, “Jerk.”

“What do you think's up with Lydia and Erica?” Allison asked the room, before she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and started to worry at it.

“I don't know but the moment they get here, I'm going to—“ The doorbell rang at that very moment, and Stiles was running as he finished his sentence. “—demand answers!” He ripped opened the door, and Lydia was standing there with Jackson, who was holding a bowl of seven layer dip and three bags of tortilla chips. “You!” Stiles said, pointing at Lydia.

“Me.” She flicked her eyes around, before she stepped inside, forcing Stiles to step aside.

Jackson grinned at him, before he dumped the food into Stiles's hands. “Hey, kids!” he said as he walked into the living room, and they all squealed an approximation of 'Uncle Jackson!' before started to climb him like a jungle gym.

Stiles glared at him as he walked past, but he was following Lydia into the kitchen, and he would not let her get away without an interrogation. He put the dip and chips on the dining room table then put his hands on his hips and as got up in Lydia's space. “Okay, missy, what's this all about?”

“What's what all about?” she asked with faux innocence, a cute quirk to her lips as she twirled her hair. 

“All this secrecy!” Stiles more or less yelled, flailing his arms out. He narrowed his eyes at her as he smile deepened. He lifted a finger and opened his mouth, but the doorbell rang again. “To be continued,” he promised her, before he went to the door. “You two!” he barked as he opened it.

Erica and Boyd both looked surprised, and Erica extended a bowl at him in a peace offering. “Guacamole?”

Stiles dropped his eyes to it, before he took it and turned to lead them into the kitchen with the others, sans Jackson who was doing arm curls with two kids on each arm. “Okay, now can we all come clean about all this mystery?” he asked, exasperated.

“How about we get run business out of the way first?” Derek suggested, because he was apparently evil and just liked to see Stiles suffer. 

So that's what they did. They ate tacos, and they talked about the upcoming run, which took far longer than Stiles wanted. He mostly glared at Erica and Lydia the entire time, which was very easy since they were sitting next to each other on the other side of the table, right in front of him. Lydia took his glaring in stride, and Erica mostly ignored him until she abruptly started making faces at him until he couldn't help but smile. Crossed eyes and puffed out hamster cheeks was a good look on her.

“Okay, seriously, you guys, what's the big secret? What are you two hiding?” Stiles asked once the business talks wound down.

The girls looked at each other. “After you,” Lydia said at the same time Erica said, “You first.” They stared at each other for a little while longer, before Lydia relented.

“Well, I don't know why she's here, but I just wanted to let you guys know that I won't be able to attend the run this month.” She waved her hand in flippant circles. “Or the month after, or the month after and so on.”

“Really? Why?” Derek asked, brows coming together.

“I can't shift for a while,” she clarified, before she put on a winning smile. “I'm pregnant.”

The first noise out of the group was a loud, undignified squawk from Erica. “I was going to say I can't go to the run because I'm pregnant too!” she announced.

“Really?!” Lydia demanded, turning to her and grabbing Erica's arms as she nodded rapidly. “How far along are you?”

“About three weeks,” Erica said, beaming.

“Me too!” 

“Oh my God!” they both screamed, before they deteriorated into a squealing and hugging mass of blonde and red hair.

There were hugs and congratulations all around, and everyone moved into the living room. The kids were excited about the pregnancies too. Zoe, especially, wanted to talk to Lydia and Erica's stomachs, but when she realized that they weren't that big she was disappointed. 

“When are the babies gonna be here?” she asked from Scott's lap, swinging her feet back and forth.

“Around eight months,” Lydia replied. She was lounging on the loveseat against Jackson's chest, playing with his hands. 

“That's so far away! That's like years!” Zoe complained, oozing out of Scott's lap onto the ground to crawl over to the coffee table to go back to coloring with the twins.

“It's so crazy that you two are going to become moms at the same time,” Allison said, holding a dozing Tony against her shoulder. The poor little tyke had seen too much excitement for one night.

“What's crazier is that Jackson's going to be a dad,” Scott piped up, grinning when Jackson shot him a look. “I honestly thought it would never happen, hand to God.” He held one hand up.

“Funny, McCall,” Jackson said, going to flip him off, but Lydia grabbed his hand and bent his middle finger at a painful angle. “Ow, Jesus!”

“No flipping the bird around children,” she scolded lightly, letting him go. “That includes our son or daughter.”

“Son, hopefully,” Jackson huffed, flexing his hand. When she tilted her head to look at him, he shrugged. “What? I want to teach my son how to play lacrosse and other sports. Can you blame me?”

“Girls can't play sports?” she prompted, lifting her brows in a way that suggested he was treading on thin ice and better chose his words carefully.

“Well, yeah, but girls are… girly and stuff, I don't know what I'm trying to say,” he said, trailing off and looking away, embarrassed.

“Zoe likes lacrosse,” Scott said, looking proud. “Don't you, sweetie?” He ruffled her hair.

“Yeah! I'm goalie!” she replied, smoothing out her hair.

After everyone left, Derek and Stiles carried the twins to their rooms, getting them dressed in their pajamas and tucking them in. Talia wanted an extra story before she would go to bed, which kept Derek occupied while Stiles puttered about in their bathroom, getting ready to go to sleep. He paused in front of the mirror, standing there in just a pair of sleep pants, and stared at himself. At his stomach, to be precise. He set his hand over his navel and ran it down, toying with the hair that covered his c-section scar.

He had babies on the brain now. Maybe it was the happy pregnant hormones that Erica and Lydia had been oozing, but now he was honestly pondering the pros and cons of having another kid.

He loved his personal freedom now that the kids were in preschool for a few hours a day. He liked being able to come and go as he pleased, and he wouldn't be able to do that with an infant. He'd probably have to go back to working from home. Also pregnancy wasn't exactly a walk in the park. He didn't miss all the vomiting, constipation and mood swings that left him sobbing over Neosporin commercials.

But he _loved_ babies. He loved holding them, carrying them, feeding them, burping them, making them laugh, calming their crying and even changing them (because he had set a record that even Derek couldn't beat). He loved going through every milestone, seeing his baby develop and learn and grow. He also loved they way he looked when he was pregnant pregnant. So did Derek, if the way he gazed at him like he hung the moon was anything to go by.

Derek came into the bathroom, wrapping his arms around Stiles and nuzzling his throat. “Talia's finally down,” he said, before he turned his head to yawn. He caught the way Stiles was gazing into the mirror and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “What're you thinking about?”

“Nothing much,” Stiles said as he turned around and pressed their lips together. “Let's go to bed.” He took his hand and led him into the bedroom. 

He'd think about having another kid later. He might even sit down and actually make a table of reasons for and against the idea. But he was definitely considering it.

###### 

Ever since Stiles and Derek had kids, everything became about them. They weren't even going to celebrate their anniversary, but the moment Peter heard that he swept in, picked up the kids and told Stiles and Derek to have fun on their day alone. Of course, once the kids were gone, they didn't exactly know _what_ to do, since they hadn't planned anything.

“Want to go out?” Derek asked, rubbing his thick stubble before glancing down at himself. He would need to change out of his threadbare shirt and sweats and put on some shoes before he would actually be presentable.

Stiles shrugged, since he was in the same boat clothes wise. He dug his toes into the carpet, feeling lazy. His mind was only half there too. He'd been thinking obsessively about babies ever since the run a few weeks ago. He was already thinking about names, which was downright dangerous.

“Netflix and takeout?” Derek suggested, before he lifted and dropped a shoulder when Stiles looked at him. “That Thai place we like?”

“This is why I married you,” Stiles said, reaching up to rub at Derek's furry cheeks.

After they devoured some food, they were slouching on the couch, marathoning Burn Notice episodes. They were very much behind on the show given that usually when they watched TV, it was kid's shows. Stiles had a serious crush on Fiona, while Derek, being a long time Bruce Campbell fan, was all about Sam Axe and his silliness. 

After a while, Derek leaned over. “You've been scratching for like ten minutes.”

Stiles looked down where his nails were dragging across his stomach over and over again. “My scar itches,” he said, because it did, but that was probably because he kept imagining it being opened up again to retrieve a new baby. 

He continued staring at the screen, head in the clouds, which is why he was so surprised and let out a bit of a shriek when Derek grabbed his hand and leaned over to kiss his scar. “What're you doing?” he asked, putting his fingers in Derek's hair as his mate tugged down the front of his pants to nuzzle at his happy trail. “That tickles.” 

Derek chuckled into his skin, before he pulled down Stiles's pants further and, oh, _that_ didn't tickle.

Derek ended up on the floor, kneeling between Stiles's legs and licking his cock base to tip in slow, teasing laps. His green eyes were turned up, pinning Stiles in place with their intense gaze. It was ridiculous. Stiles was so turned on that his thighs were trembling the the effort of keeping still. Derek wasn't playing fair. He wasn't trying to get Stiles off. He was just trying to keep him poised and hard without getting him anywhere.

“Hate you,” Stiles bit out, and Derek just smiled because he knew that he was lying. Stiles wanted to be angry because Derek was a goddamn tease, but he just couldn't because Derek looked so damn hot kneeling there on the floor with his perfect mouth sucking a kiss on the head of Stiles's dick.

Moving one hand away from Stiles's hips, Derek moved his fingers lightly through the hair covering the c-section scar. He traced the line down then along the line that went across. He watched Stiles through hooded eyes as he did so, his hot, wet tongue circling his cockhead. Then he pushed his hand flat, covering almost the entire scar, and swallowed Stiles's dick whole. 

Stiles whined, one hand going to dig into Derek's hair and the other going to his mouth where he bit his knuckles. Derek was holding him still with his searing hot hand right on his scar, long fingers digging in just a bit. It was like all of the energy that had been buzzing through his body, all of those nervous thoughts about should they or shouldn't they have another kid exploded into electric clarity. Derek's hand was holding him right where the twins had been, and he would continue to hold him when they made another kid. Derek would always be there for him. He didn't have to worry, because it wasn't all on his shoulders.

“Fuck,” Stiles mewled against his knuckles, toes curling against Derek's strong thighs as he drew closer and closer to the edge.

He wanted a baby!

“De—“ he tried, but it turned into a cry as he came his mate's throat. His eyelids fluttered as he floated, and Derek sucked on him until he was so sensitive that he pushed at his head. Next thing he knew Derek was kissing him, that heady taste on his tongue, and Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek's shoulders to roll his tongue through his mouth until that taste was gone.

“Gimme a minute and I'll return the favor,” Stiles murmured, one hand going down to grip Derek through his pants, and the lips against his quirked up in a smile.

After Stiles had sucked Derek's brain out through his cock, they flopped onto the couch with Derek on bottom and Stiles draped over the top of him. He was running a teasing circle around Derek's nipple when his hand was grabbed, kissed and then held still so he couldn't do that anymore. Stiles didn't mind. He laid there with his cheek smushed into Derek's chest and a laziness weighing his body down.

“So,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes up to look at the lovely angles of Derek's jaw. “I'd like to revisit a conversation from before.”

“Hm? What's that?” Derek asked, low voice rumbling through his chest under Stiles's ear.

Stiles rubbed his cheek into the muscle underneath it, smiling. “About having another kid.”

“What?” Derek lifted his head off of the cushion, face serious. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Stiles said, laying his hands on top of one another under his chin. “I've been thinking about it for a while now.”

“Oh.” Derek stared at him for a moment, before he licking his lips. “Do you want to?”

“Yeah,” Stiles said as he let a slow smile spread across his lips. “I really do.”

Derek grabbed Stiles's head, pulling him up for a kiss then covering his face with kisses. Apparently he was happy, which made Stiles giggle. He wondered how long Derek had been thinking about this, and if he was so interested in having more kids, why didn't he press the issue? Oh, that's right, because he was a _sweetheart._

“Not right away though,” Stiles said as Derek kissed the tip of his nose. “Like, not my next heat. I'm working on a big project at work, and I'd like to be done with it before I have to deal with morning sickness.”

“Anything you want,” Derek told him as he nuzzled his face.

“Anything I want?” Stiles asked, and Derek hummed. “Because I'd still like a red Prius.”

“Not a chance.” Derek chuckled, kissing Stiles's pouty lips. “But I will make you a deal. You said that you didn't want to stay home with an infant. I will work it out so I can stay home with the baby a couple days out of the week so you can go into the office.” 

Stiles blinked at him. “You can do that?”

Derek shrugged. “I'm the boss.” When Stiles's lips spread into a slow, fox-like grin, Derek's face fell. “Don't.”

Stiles sat up on Derek's stomach. “So you're going to tell them how it is—like a boss?” 

Derek rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

“Order around subordinates—like a boss!”

“I hate you.” Derek put his hands over his face.

“Delegate responsibility—like a boss!”

“And I hate Lonely Island.” Derek dropped his hands, surrendering himself to his fate as Stiles continued to rap.

Badly.

###### 

Peter hoped that Derek and Stiles were off doing gross romantic things, like feeding each other by hand and sharing a dessert, because that's what people should do on their anniversaries. They were still young, so they shouldn't let having kids take the fun out of their relationship. What hope was there for older couples if younger ones just gave up? Yes, perfect logic. That was why Peter had swooped in like a hawk and nabbed the kids, and it was also why he was driving for two hours to the nearest beach.

The kids hadn't been yet, and Peter figured it was time, since they were four and a half. He was only getting away with being the one to take them because he had promised their parents to take plenty of pictures. The kids were excited for the first hour, chattering rapidly about very little, mostly pointing out things in the scenery. Peter told them to count all the Starbucks, and that kept them busy for a while. It was when they stop talking that Peter got curious, glanced back in the rear view mirror and saw them whispering softly in a secretive manner. 

“What are you two plotting back there?” Peter asked, looking back at the road for a second before glancing back at them again. They had pulled apart and were staring out of their windows with blank expressions. He didn't trust it for a second, but they were little kids, so they couldn't possibly be cooking up something too nefarious.

When they reached the beach, Peter drove his car out onto the sand like everyone else, before he got out and unbuckled the kids from their car seats. They hopped out, immediately abandoning their shoes, so he picked them up and followed them over to the water. Johnnie started to play with the tide, running after it when it moved out then retreating when it came in. Talia was digging in the wet sand with her claws, and she produced a shell, turning it this way and that with interest.

“So, what would you do like to do first?” Peter asked them, imagining they'd want to play in the shallows, make sand castles and dig after hermit crabs.

The twins gazed up at him, before he slid their eyes toward each other, and then abruptly dashed in opposite directions as fast as their little toddler legs could carry them. Peter didn't immediately know what to do, shuffling in one spot because he didn't know who to chase first. “Jesus Christ,” he bit out, before he finally ran off after Talia. These kids were definitely spawns of his nephew and Stiles.

Talia squeaked when he grabbed her, before laughing as he tucked her against his chest and whirled about, kicking up sand on a protesting pair of girls before he sped off after Johnnie. The little boy was hiding under a pier when he found him. And when Peter grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him up with a “Got'cha!” he let out a squeal and tried to get out of his shirt, but Peter pulled him against his chest to join his sister.

“Is this some kind of hazing?” Peter asked them, and they looked up at him with their huge eyes, playing at sweet and innocent, but oh no, he would not be fooled. “I know I haven't watched you two on my own yet, but cut me some slack. I'm your uncle. Great-uncle. I'm related to you, whatever.” They blinked in unison, which was a touch frightening. “I can respect a good prank though. Well done. You got me.” He gave them a squeeze when they smiled into his shirt. “But if you two run off again, we're leaving. No more beach. Got it?”

The kids both mumbled some approximation of “Yes, Uncle Peter,” so he let them down, holding out his hands for them to take. They looked properly scolded, putting their little hands in his and walking like they were expecting to go to the gallows. Peter was sure they'd perk right up again soon enough.

A woman in a bikini and a see-through wrap was walking in the direction they'd just come from, and smiled brightly at them. “Well, hello there, cuties,” she said as she crouched down in front of them. “Are you enjoying your day at the beach?”

Johnnie hid his face in Peter's pant leg, but Talia smiled brightly at the woman. “Yeah!” the little girl said, offering her hand to the woman. “I'm Talia.”

“Hello, Talia, I'm Marie,” the woman said, accepting the handshake. She looked to Johnnie, who was still hiding his face. “And what's your name?” She gave him a sweet smile.

He looked at her, before he shuffled around Peter's legs to hide himself. “Johnnie,” he said, voice small.

“Nice to meet you, Johnnie. How old are you two?” the woman asked. 

“This many!” Talia announced, holding up four fingers. “Almost this many.” She put up her pinkie as well and wiggled her fingers around.

The woman's smile stretched into a grin. “What a big girl you are.” She straightened up, turning her eyes to Peter. “And what's your name?” 

“Peter,” he answered, giving her a smile.

Her eyelids dropped a little as she didn't hide the once over she gave him. “They yours?”

“My nephew's.” There was an invitation in her gaze, a prompting to turn this conversation into something else. Marie was a beautiful woman, curvy with beautiful eyes, and if Peter had met her sometime ago, he would have asked for her number or just swept her away to a hotel room. As it was, he had the kids with him, and he wasn't single anymore. This was a new feeling for him. So instead of taking the bait, he stayed silent.

She seemed to take the hint, straightening a bit. “Well, see you all around,” she said, waggling her fingers at the kids before she walked off.

Though Peter was in a relationship, he let himself watch her swaying hips. He sighed a little. “I guess it's true what they say about how having kids makes you more appealing,” he mumbled.

“Huh?” Talia asked.

He ruffled her hair a little. “Nothing, don't worry about it.” He turned his attention to Johnnie, who was still cowering. “If you're so shy, why did you run off alone?”

Johnnie tilted his face up, blinking at him. “That was a game.”

Peter sighed, taking their hands again and moving back toward the place where he left his car. “I've got a new game for you two. It's called 'Don't Run Off' and if you do well enough, I'll buy you ice cream. Deal?”

“I want chocolate!” Talia said, bouncing a little as she walked. “Two scoops!”

“That is a reasonable demand.”

They reached Peter's car, and he let them go so they could go play. He picked up the two pairs of shoes he had dropped in his haste to catch the kids, putting them on the floor of the backseat, before he grabbed the camera. The kids were running around, lobbing wet handfuls of sand at each other, so Peter leaned against the front of his car and snapped a few pictures of them laughing and playing. They quickly shed their clothes, tossing the shirts and pants onto the dry sand and dressing down to only their swimsuits. Peter moved forward to gather the clothes up, shaking the sand out of them before taking them back to the car. There he stripped down to his swim trunks too.

He ended up sitting on a towel, watching the kids build a sandcastle that was questionable in structural integrity but impressive in height. They had spent so long making it that the tide was starting to threaten its borders. They were both fretting about that, with a kind of intensity that only children with no other worries could possess. 

“Dig a thing!” Johnnie announced, starting to claw his way into the sand.

“What thing?” Talia asked, confused as she watched him.

“The thing that goes around castles! With alligators and stuff!”

“It's called a moat,” Peter provided.

“That!” Johnnie said, pointing at him before he continued digging. 

The two of them quickly dug a trench around their prized castle, which did protect it from the water for about ten minutes. Then the tide was too high, and the water started to wash away the walls. They watched with growing distress as their hard work started to wither away, and when Johnnie looked over at Peter with a wibbling bottom lip, he couldn't sit still and watch them.

“It's okay, kids,” he said as he left the camera on the towel and got up to water over to them. “I got plenty of pictures of your castle. You can show your dads, alright?” He ran hand over Johnnie's hair, and the little boy sniffed and nodded. “You can always build a bigger one when you come back to the beach. Just beg your parents constantly, and they'll be sure to give in.” Johnnie sniffed again, and Talia rubbed at her face.

It had been a long time since Peter had dealt with kids being sad. Usually Derek and his brother and sisters were comforted by their parents, but on the off chance something happened and Talia and Andrew weren't around, Peter had been there for them. He had usually just distracted them or bribed them with sweets. He had said that he would get the twins ice cream...

“Do you guys want to leave?” he asked, and they immediately and rapidly shook their heads. “Then what do you want to do?” He was about to say that ice cream was on the table, but then Talia pointed out into the gentle waves. “You want to go out into the water?” She nodded, and Johnnie was nodding too, so he let out a little sigh through his nose. “Well, okay then.”

The twins rushed out into the shallows, and he bent to pick them up when he reached them, settling them on his hips and walking out into the water. “I don't want you two swept away by the undertow,” he mused absently. 

“What's undertow?” Johnnie asked, giggling as his feet were submerged. 

“A strong current under the water,” Peter said, which got him a confused blink. “Think of it like a hand that would grab you and pull you under.” To that they both gasped and lifted their legs up out of the water, looking around with wide eyes. “Kids, it's okay,” he said with a bit of a laugh. “I've got you. It can't get you if I'm holding you. And I'm too big for it to get me.”

The kids relaxed, lowered their legs again, and Peter continued to move until the gentle waves were lapping at his waist. They were deep enough where they could look through the blue-green water and see things other than sand. Talia leaned over and tried to grab at the little fish that darted by. Johnnie spotted a tiny crab, and Peter stepped out of its way.

All of the sudden Talia let out a screech and tried to climb Peter, shouting “Undertow monster!”

Peter sputtered, trying to keep a handle on her. “Talia,” he said, looking to see a harmless piece of sea vegetation bumping up against him, trapped by the current. “Talia, it's seaweed. Look.” He let go of her since she was practically dangling from his neck, picking up the seaweed and lifting it up. “See?” 

Talia halted, looking down at the plant, before she snatched it and lifted it to her face. She turned it this way and that, slowly settling back on Peter's hip, though her foot was in an interesting position.

“Talia,” Peter said. “You're pushing down the back of my swimsuit.” He needed more hands.

She blinked at him, before she moved her foot. “Sorry,” she said, before she decided to correct this by tugging up the back of his swim trunks far higher than they ever needed to be.

Peter made an interesting noise, biting back a curse because he was in the presence of children. He had never before experienced a wedgie. His balls did not enjoy it. “Thanks,” he managed when she let the trunks go.

They stayed out in the water until they heard an ice cream cart coming down the beach. Peter walked back to the shore and let the twins go screaming up to the cart, stopping at his car to get his wallet. He bought them both two scoops of chocolate ice cream in waffle cones, and they walked back to their towels proudly with their prizes. They both plopped down onto the towel, but apparently Johnnie plopped too hard, because the moment he did, the ice cream fell right off of his cone and onto the sand.

Johnnie's bottom lip was wibbling again, and Peter was about to go chase down the ice cream cart when Talia grabbed the top scoop of her ice cream and put it on Johnnie's cone. She grinned at him. “I got you, little brother!” She started to lick the chocolate off of her fingers.

Peter smiled, grabbing the camera and snapping a picture of them grinning at each other.

While getting everyone back into the car, Peter faced the inevitability that he was unable to avoid sand in his floorboards. But that wasn't quite as bad as the sand in the cleft of his ass that he didn't notice until he sat down. 

“I'm thirsty!” Talia announced as they pulled onto the road, and Johnnie agreed.

Dammit, Peter just wanted to get home and take a shower. After agreeing to stop somewhere and get them something to drink, he kept on the look out for a gas station. He could get gas as well. 

The kids took to the gas station like they did everything, which meant it was all ground to be explored and conquered. They emerged almost immediately with large beverage cans and bags of cookies. Crowding against his legs, they held up their bounty and chanted “These, these, these!”

Peter took one of the cans. “Kids, these are energy drinks,” he said, looking down at them. “Do you really want these? Why don't you get some juice instead?” 

“Daddy and Papa don't let us have these!” Talia informed him, making a grabby gesture at the can. When Peter gave it back to her, she turned the full force of her big, round brown eyes up at him. “Pleeeeeease?”

“Yeah, Uncle Peter, please!” Johnnie joined in, before they pressed their cheeks together and did twin puppy dog eyes. They had puffed out bottom lips going and everything.

Peter sighed, because he was absolutely unable to say no to these two. “Those cans are pretty big.”

“They'll last the whole way home!” Johnnie replied excitedly.

What real harm could it do?

Talia and Johnnie blazed into Peter's apartment like twin tornadoes. They were completely and utterly wired, practically vibrating with excess energy that they couldn't get rid of fast enough. The car ride had been calm for the first hour, but then the kids had exploded into animation. They were talking too fast to be understood, and they kept partway shifting like they couldn't control it. The car seat probably had rips from little claws. 

Deucalion was sitting on the couch, book in his lap and fingers on the page, and he jumped when the twins flew past him. Peter had told him he was bringing them home so that Derek and Stiles could have their romantic night, but Deucalion probably hadn't expected them to be crazy balls of chattering and lightning fast speed.

Peter moved over to the couch, mumbling a greeting before he dropped next to him and leaned heavily into his side, putting his head on his shoulder. “I've made a huge mistake,” he said, watching the kids blur past and tear down the hallway that led to the bedrooms. God, he hoped they didn't go hunting in the bedside table of his and Deucalion's bedroom. Peter did not want to have that kind of conversation.

“What did you do?” Deucalion asked as he closed his braille book. 

“I let them have energy drinks. Big ones.” He closed his eyes against the pain that was forming between his brows.

“Why on Earth would you do that?”

“Because they said please.” Peter sagged in relief as the kids came dashing back into the living room, thankfully without any sex toys. They leaped over the loveseat and started to roll around together on the floor, play fighting.

“Why didn't you take them to the park or something and let them run it off?”

“Because they would probably shift and run off into the night, and I would never find them. And my nephew would kill me. Actually my nephew's mate would probably get to me first.” He drooped a bit more. “At least this way they're contained, even if my floors and furniture won't survive.”

Deucalion let out a low laugh, turning his head and nuzzling his nose against Peter's hair. “You're adorable.”

Peter just kind of let out a whining noise, too drained to defend himself.

Johnnie was suddenly in front of them, doing an antsy little dance. “Gotta pee!” 

“Second door on the right,” Peter said, pointing, and the little boy ran off.

Talia, now without her wrestling buddy, skidded to a halt right in front of them. “Why are you wearing sunglasses in the house?” she asked, putting both of her hands on Deucalion's knee.

“Because I'm blind,” Deucalion answered, ever patient.

“Oh,” she answered, squinting her eyes at him.

“Talia, you remember Deucalion from the runs, don't you?” Peter asked.

“No,” she answered bluntly, which wasn't a surprise. She spent most of her time on the runs chasing rabbits and squirrels. She never sat still long enough to have a conversation with. She put her chin on her hands, looking up at him. “So you don't know what I look like?”

“No, child.” Deucalion's lips quirked up.

“Oh, well let me tell you!” And she did. She described the color of her hair, the length of it, then her eyes and even her Marilyn Monroe mole. Eventually Johnnie came out, and she happily described him too, though when she said he had buck teeth, he shoved her and they were back to wrestling.

Around one in the morning, the kids crashed. One minute they were tumbling around and the next they were completely dead to the world. Peter thanked a deity he didn't believe in and gathered them up, taking them to a guest room to tuck them in a queen size bed.

Peter didn't so much get into bed as fall onto it. He needed sleep. He had freaking sand in his ass, and he didn't care anymore. “Bury me where I lie,” he said, his voice a bit muffled by the comforter.

“Getting too old to keep up with the kids?” Deucalion asked smoothly as he got into the bed himself, though unclothed and under the covers like he hadn't stayed up as well.

Peter turned his head, growling at him. “Fuck you,” he said, though it fell flat because he couldn't muster any actual anger.

“I don't think you could right now.” Deucalion reached over and put his hand in Peter's hair, gently running his fingers through it. “They are cute though, your niece and nephew.”

“Aren't they?” Peter said, before he did a caterpillar wiggle to relinquish himself from his clothes. He didn't get under the covers though, just straightened himself out and got his head on the pillow. “They are terrors, but I'm so glad they're in my life. At first, I wasn't sure that Derek would allow it.”

“Why's that?”

“It's a long story,” Peter said with a heavy sigh. He felt Deucalion's hand slide down his forearm and take his hand, lacing their fingers together, and he closed his eyes. “Do you know anything about the fire that killed my family?”

“Only that it happened, and that Matriarch Talia died in it. No details.”

“A lot of people died in the fire: Talia, her mate, Andrew, their children Nathan and Laura, as while as my mother. Andrew's sister, Olivia, and her three kids, Kyra, Julia and Flynn, also died.” He lifted his free hand to rub at his face. He hadn't planned on having this conversation anytime soon. “I was at the store. Derek and Cora were at school.” He closed his eyes again. “Derek was sixteen at the time, and he wasn't ready to be regional alpha, even if he had been conditioned for it, which he hadn't. Laura was next in line.”

“That's a lot of responsibility for a child to bear.”

“Exactly, which is why I took the weight for him. I sent him and Cora to New York, where they could finish school and he could receive training as an alpha. And I ran the region.” He rubbed his eyebrow. “I was terrible at it too. Not immediately, but after a few years everything started to slip. I have no idea what went so wrong, except that it all did. Derek came back with Cora, and he hadn't completed his training, but he demanded I hand the region over to him.” He fell silent, pinching the bridge of his nose.

After a few moments of quiet, Deucalion squeezed his hand. “And?”

“I said no.”

The stunned silence after that was deserved. 

Peter let it stretch for a little while, trying to figure out the least demonizing way to explain his actions. But he couldn't think of any way to sugarcoat it. “I got power hungry,” he said softly, drawing his brows down. “I was convinced that despite being a beta, I would lead a region just as well as an alpha.”

Deucalion squeezed his hand again, turning onto side. “It has nothing to do with breeding. Some people just aren't meant for leadership.”

Peter snorted. He knew that _now_. “Derek and I fought, rather viciously, and he beat me into submission. He took the region from me, and I stayed in town as an adviser of sorts, though he rejected my advice more than he accepted it.” He turned on his side too, gazing into Deucalion's milky white eyes. “I stayed for a little over a year. In fact, I left after you shortly came and went. I went to Europe, and I traveled. I was gone for years. Derek and I didn't keep in contact. The only person that talked to me was Cora. I came back when she told me Stiles was pregnant with the twins.” He dropped his voice, brows furrowing. “I wanted my family back.”

Deucalion put his hand on the back of Peter's head, pulling him close so that their foreheads were touching. “You have your family now,” he told him in a voice that had Peter's breath hitching.

He did. And he wasn't letting them go.

###### 

Things weren't adding up. Derek and his team should have been done with their current project, but the materials they were using kept coming up short. Either their supplier wasn't sending all they said they were, or one of his team was taking things. Derek rubbed his eyes as he thought about how he was going to figure out which it was. He'd have to question his team. They couldn't lie to him. And he would have to check the materials logs. Derek put an elbow on his desk, shuffling through some papers. He'd have to oversee the shipments personally for a while.

His cellphone buzzed, and he picked it up, glancing at the name. “Hey, Stiles,” he said when he put it to his ear.

“Derek,” Stiles said, panting loudly. “Come home.”

Derek was out of his chair immediately, shoving papers in his briefcase. “You're early,” he said as he managed to get the damn thing shut. “You've never been early before.” He hurried out of his office, blowing past his secretary and ignoring the questions she shouted after him. Stiles was usually regular as clockwork when it came to his heats, but he was a week early.

“I know, I know,” Stiles whined into his ear. “Please.”

“I'm coming, don't worry. Did you arrange something for the kids?” Derek asked as he rode the elevator down to the parking garage.

“Yeah,” Stiles said, and he sounded absolutely wrecked. “Isaac came to get them. I—I tried not to call you, tried to wait until you got off work, but...” He broke off in a moan.

“I understand,” Derek told him, swallowing as the doors pinged open and he started to jog to his car. “I'll be home soon. Can you wait for me?”

“Y-yeah,” Stiles whined softly.

Derek fumbled with getting his keys out of his pocket when he reached his car, dropping them and letting out a curse as he scooped them up and hit the button to unlock the Camaro. “I have to hang up now,” he told Stiles as he tossed his briefcase into the passenger seat and got in.

“ _Hurry_.”

That tiny plea was enough to get Derek's blood boiling. “I will.” 

Derek might have sped through the streets, but thankfully no one pulled him over. He didn't think the reasoning of 'my mate is in heat and needs me' would hold up to anyone but the sheriff. He made it home without incident, and Stiles was on him the moment he closed the door. He was all hot sucking kisses and roaming hands. “Stiles,” Derek tried to say as clever fingers started to pull his belt open. “Stiles, bedroom.” Fuck, the way Stiles smelled. He was in full throes of his heat. It must have came on fast.

Stiles said something unintelligible, pulling open Derek's pants and dipping a hand inside to take hold of his cock. He squeezed the base, causing Derek to jerk slightly, before he lifted his eyes up. “I need it,” he said, voice harsh like he had already been screaming for hours.

“Okay,” Derek told him, before he grunted when Stiles squeezed him again. “Bed.” He managed to manhandle his mate into his arms, lifting him up and carrying him up the stairs as Stiles nibbled at his neck the whole way. He dumped him on the bed then went about pulling his clothes off, which wasn't easy when Stiles was trying to 'help' by wriggling around. But he managed to get his shirt and slick soaked pants and underwear off. When he ran his hands over Stiles's overheated skin, he arched up like he was attracted by a magnet.

“Fuck me,” Stiles choked out, grabbing Derek's hand to bring it to his face and rub his cheek into his palm. He dragged his tongue along Derek's skin, before he sucked two fingers into his mouth, eyes flashing purple. 

Derek swallowed with a dry click, and when Stiles let go of his hand, he got out of his clothes in record time. While he was kicking off his pants, Stiles turned on his stomach and lifted onto his knees and elbows, presenting his shiny, pink hole. Derek almost face-planted in his speed to get onto the bed, putting his hands on Stiles's ass and spreading him open. “Jesus,” he whispered as he used his thumb to tease the rim then pressed it inside, glancing up as Stiles let out a tiny noise. “You do need it.”

Stiles shifted, looking over his shoulder with pupils blown wide and only a sliver of purple around them. Derek had no idea why Stiles was so far along in his heat cycle already, but it was like he had been in heat for _days_. Stiles pressed back, hole clenching as best it could around Derek's thumb, hot and inviting.

Derek was already hard, had been since he'd been pounced in the entryway, and the base of his cock was tight, ready to bloom into a knot. He hooked his other thumb in Stiles's hole, pulling it open wide and watching slick slide down his thighs. Stiles loosened readily, wanting, and made a sound that was some kind of garbled word.

“What?” Derek asked, running a hand along Stiles's lower back. “What did you say?”

Stiles swallowed a few times. “Hard,” he managed to bite out, baring his teeth. “I want it _hard_.”

This was going to be one of those heats where neither of them would be able to walk later.

Derek gripped Stiles's hips, moving closer, before he tugged him back sharply, impaling him on his cock. Stiles let out a yelp, and Derek was about to ask if he was okay, but he just started fucking himself back on Derek's cock without prompting. Derek didn't move, watching Stiles as he stretched his arms up above his head, looking lean and pale and so fucking beautiful.

Digging his fingers into Stiles's hips, Derek took control of the movements, pulling Stiles back again and again on his dick with a loud slap of skin. With every thrust, he punched a sound out of Stiles, loud and strangled. They were guttural, mostly inhuman, but they were _pleased_. Derek had ripped enough noises out of Stiles to know his happiest ones.

He could feel the effort Stiles put into meeting his thrusts slipping out of his body, and eventually he just surrendered, letting himself be controlled and just enjoying the ride. Derek's knot was starting to grow, catching a bit on the rim of Stiles's hole with each jerk of hips, and Derek was resisting the intense pleasure that was building low in his stomach. He dropped back on his heels, pulling a startled Stiles with him, before he straightened his mate up and used his grip on his hips to make Stiles bounce on his cock.

“Derek!” Stiles cried, frantic hands grabbing onto Derek's wrists so he could hang on. 

Derek was licking and nipping at Stiles's neck and shoulder as best he could with his mate snapping back and forth in his lap. He tasted salty from the sweat, spicy from all the pheromones he was putting out, and sweet from a taste that was all Stiles. He growled into his skin, before he bit down right on his bond spot, hips wrenching forward hard to bury his expanding knot deep into his mate.

Stiles's scream didn't even try to be a word. His muscles clenched down hard on Derek's knot, and he arched his back in a beautiful, severe curve. Derek grabbed his neck, growling into his skin as his own orgasm exploded through him, coming rope after rope inside of his mate. Stiles trembled, letting out tiny mewing noises as Derek held onto him, hips still twitching as he rode out his own orgasm and the gripping, wet aftershocks of Stiles's.

Derek wanted to immediately flop onto his side, but he didn't, instead putting out one arm and maneuvering them down onto the bed. He wrapped Stiles in his embrace, spooning up behind him as his dick throbbed in Stiles's ass. He always felt so giddy when tied, so cuddly. It was probably how Stiles came up with a nickname 'Snugglewolf.' He didn't care at the moment. Instead he just nuzzled his nose against the back of Stiles's ear, chest rumbling in a happy way. 

“Feel okay?” Derek asked.

“Yeah,” Stiles said, his voice all worn out from the constant yelling. “Feel great.” He turned his head so he could press his lips against the corner of Derek's mouth. He was probably trying for his lips but was too blissed out to aim correctly.

Derek just smiled, turning into the kiss and lifting his hand to touch Stiles's chin. “Why do you think you're early?” he asked, voice low. They hadn't yet stocked the room full of electrolyte drinks and powerbars like they did before every heat. He'd probably have to call in a favor and have a care package assembled by another member of the pack.

“Dunno,” Stiles said with a yawn, before he buried his face in his pillow. “Maybe it's because I have babies on the brain, and my body just said 'well fuck it, let's do this thing.' But I honestly can't be sure.” He let out a snort. “Maybe the stars are just in the right alignment.” 

Derek snorted out a chuckle at that, his fingers playing over the pale skin of Stiles's shoulder, tracing a familiar path between his moles. “Ordained by the divine?” 

“Not exactly an immaculate conception,” Stiles murmured, his muscles clenching down on Derek's knot in a way that had them both gasping. 

Derek ran his hand down Stiles's side, taking hold of his hip and rocking forward in a circle, making his mate moan. He licked at Stiles's bond spot, the bruise over the gland already healing. He didn't feel tired. In fact, he felt wired, his nose and mouth filled with the pheromones that were pouring off of Stiles like fog off dry ice. He slid his hand down, taking hold of Stiles's cock and giving it a squeeze, smiling as it twitched in his palm.

“You know,” Stiles said, letting out a little jerking noise was Derek's knot hit a nice spot inside of him. “I've never bought into the whole omegas are made for pregnancy thing. I still don't but...” His hand came around grabbing onto Derek's ass. “But right now I don't want anything else.” 

“Mm,” was Derek's opinion as he rolled his hips in time with pumping Stiles's cock. “Does that mean you want me to fill you up?” he asked, before he ran Stiles's earlobe through his teeth gently, earning a little whine. “Take you until you're leaking?”

Stiles tilted his head back, a shaky sigh escaping through his parted lips. “Yeah,” he whispered, and Derek pressed his face into his shoulder, starting to move his hips harder, putting actual force behind his movements. “Fill me up with your baby gravy.”

Derek paused immediately, lifting his head to look at Stiles's expression, only to find him grinning with hooded eyes like the asshole he was. Derek stared at him, before he burst into snorting chuckles and hid his faced in his mate's mole covered shoulder. “Baby gravy,” he repeated, voice cracking all over the place. “You're fucking ridiculous.”

“I have no impulse control,” Stiles all but squealed, covering his face with a hand as he shook with laughter. “But—but hey, you love me anyway.”

“I do,” Derek agreed, still giggling into Stiles's shoulder.

“Good, now c'mon, stud,” Stiles said, patting Derek's ass and wriggling about. “Plant that seed in me.”

Sometimes Derek regretted his life choices.

###### 

It was a scorching July day. Grayson had come up with the idea to teach the kids at the daycare how to make homemade ice cream. The kids were ecstatic, and Isaac couldn't help but fall just a little bit harder for his boyfriend. Grayson kept doing these _things_ that made Isaac want to cling to him like an octopus and never let go. 

The other day he'd brought over four-hundred water balloons to the daycare and had stayed late to help pick up each little piece of balloon scrap even though Isaac told him he didn't need to. When they hooked the water guns on the jungle gym up to water hoses, Grayson offered himself up as a moving target, and Isaac certainly hadn't minded watching him run around shirtless and soaked. He'd led a girl against boy super soaker battle with Rena as his lieutenant, and they had won. He'd even bought ten watermelons to introduce the kids to the classic summer treat.

Grayson had done so many things that went above and beyond just being a daycare attendant. He loved the kids. And Isaac loved him. It had taken him a while to realize it, but now, almost ten months into their relationship, he knew. He was just waiting for the right time to tell him.

Isaac was sitting on the ground, rolling a container of homemade ice cream back and forth on the floor with Pavel, which made the salt and ice do something. Grayson had explained it, but Isaac had been distracted by his lips moving. He couldn't be faulted for that. Grayson had a very distracting mouth.

In his pocket, Isaac's phone let out a happy chirp, so he paused the rolling game to dig it out and look. It was a text from Stiles addressed to pretty much everyone, and it read **Lydia is in labor. Jackson is flipping out. Beacon Hills Memorial.** Isaac let out a loud laugh.

“What's up?” Grayson said from where he was rolling a bucket of chocolate ice cream back and forth with his daughter. 

“Baby Whittemore incoming,” Isaac answered, before he rolled the bucket of vanilla back to Pavel. Then he texted Stiles back. **We'll come as soon as we can. Keep us updated.** It was pretty much Stiles's job to know anything and everything important going on, since he was the unofficial Pack Mom.

A few minutes later, Stiles sent another text. **I totally knew what was happening when I heard the Godzilla ringtone. He called me while driving, the idiot.**

Isaac snickered. Oh, Jackson, sometimes his losses of composure were amusing. **Can you blame him? Even Derek freaked out when the twins were being born.**

**Did not. He was perfectly composed.**

**He wolfed out on a nurse and made her cry.** The poor woman was only telling him that he couldn't barge in on a c-section surgery. He had apologized later when he was sure the twins and Stiles were okay.

**Lalala. I can't hear you.**

Isaac grinned at that, before he set his phone down and went back to rolling the bucket of ice cream around. Later, when the kids had had their lunch and ice cream for dessert, they were put down for their naps. Isaac was sitting with Grayson in the little dining room, which looked out into the main room where the kids were laid out on cots.

Grayson scooped a bit of deliciously melty chocolate onto a spoon, holding it out. Isaac leaned forward for it, but it was pulled out of his reach. He giggled, sticking out his tongue and catching a wayward drop. He gazed at his boyfriend with hooded eyes, giving a grin when the spoon was moved teasingly again. 

“Don't make me come across this table,” Isaac said.

“Don't make promises you can't keep,” Grayson replied, his voice like a purr, before he licked the chocolate off of the spoon in a long, broad stroke.

Isaac was about to say say something, but his phone chirped on the table, so he picked it up. It had been a little while since he'd gotten an update text from Stiles, so he was expecting news about Lydia, but what he actually got made his eyes go wide. “Oh, holy...” He covered his mouth with his fingers, an censoring technique ingrained in him from working with kids for so long.

“What?” Grayson asked.

Isaac showed him. **Mayday mayday, Erica just went into labor too. Boyd is calm, but Erica is screaming in Spanish, and Scott won't tell us what she's saying. Looks like double baby day.**

“Wow,” Grayson said, before he shoveled another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

“Wow is right,” Isaac replied, before he set the phone down and stole some chocolate creamy goodness from Grayson's bowl.

When the only kid left in the daycare was Rena, they closed the place up and headed over to the hospital. Everyone was there with balloons and stuffed animals, and the kids of the group had taken over a low table with coloring supplies and handheld games. Rena quickly went to join them, and Isaac and Grayson sat down in a pair of vacant chairs right next to Stiles and Derek.

Derek looked like he had been tasked with being a pack mule, since he was covered in presents, while Stiles only had his phone in his lap. “Hey,” Stiles said as Isaac plopped down next to him. “No news yet.”

“Ah,” Isaac said, before he looked at Derek. “Did Stiles go overboard shopping for the babies again?”

“Haha,” Stiles said as he went back to his phone.

“No,” Derek said with a half-smile. “The twins wanted to buy presents for the newborns too.” He held up an armful of stuffed toys. “Dragons from Talia and superheroes from Johnnie.” In his arms it looks like the Justice League had made friends with the scaled cast of How To Train Your Dragon.

“That's adorable,” Isaac said, before he was distracted as Johnnie came running over and started to climb into his lap. “Hey, buddy,” he laughed, before he noticed the piece of paper in the little boy's hands. “What's that you got there?”

“Talia taught me how to draw wolves!” Johnnie said, shoving the picture into Isaac's face. “Look!”

“Okay, okay, let me look at that,” Isaac said, adjusting Johnnie in his lap so he could look at the drawing. Those looked like Talia's signature wolves alright, which meant they were more blobs of color with eyes than anything. “Now who is this handsome family?”

“That's Daddy, that's Papa, that's Talia, that's me, and that's our little brother,” Johnnie informed him, pointing to each cartoon wolf in turn. 

“Little brother?” Isaac asked, smiling as Derek and Stiles looked over. “How do you know you're going to get a little brother?” 

“Because I want one,” Johnnie said with an intense expression.

“Oh,” Isaac said, somehow keeping from cracking up. “What will you do if you get a little sister?”

Johnnie blinked his huge green eyes up at him, before he twisted and looked at Stiles then dropped his gaze to his stomach. “I'll love her anyways, I guess,” he said, before he patted Stiles's stomach. 

Stiles made a choked noise, and Derek dropped a dragon or two in order to put his arm around him and kiss his hair. “That's so cute, holy crap,” Stiles said, mostly into his hands since he was covering his face. “Not gonna cry, not gonna cry.” He swallowed. “Gonna cry a little.” 

Johnnie seemed to have a sudden insight, because he gasped loudly. “Papa, why can't you have a sister and a brother again?” he asked, doing his intense face again.

Stiles lowered his hands to look at him. “Oh, buddy, the doctor said I'm only having one baby. Besides, we only have one room left in the house, which is good, because I don't think your daddy wants to remodel.”

“Oh,” Johnnie said, though he didn't look disappointed. He plopped back in Isaac's lap, looking at the picture he'd drawn. “Here, Papa, don't be sad.” The little boy offered the picture hopefully.

Stiles sniffed, wiping a tear off of his cheek. He'd probably blame it on hormones later. “I'm not sad, kiddo,” he said, taking the picture and leaning over to kiss his son's cheek. “Far from it.” He looked at the paper, smiling with pride like it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. “This is going on the fridge.”

Johnnie seemed pleased with that, and he turned his attention to Isaac. “When are you going to have babies?” he asked with a bluntness that only a child of nearly five could possess. 

Isaac smiled at him, lifting his hand to push his short brown bangs from his forehead. “I want to, someday, but I don't know when.” He hazarded a glance over at Grayson, but the man looked very interested in what the other kids were doing. Maybe he just hadn't heard.

“It's a girl!” came a loud, happy announcement, and everyone looked over to see Jackson. “It's a girl,” he said again, looking breathless and maybe a little bit delirious. He grinned broadly as everyone clapped and cheered. 

“Oh no, you'll have to repaint the nursery,” Scott said with a laugh, getting up to give him a hug.

“Bite me,” Jackson replied, though he lifted Scott up onto his toes in his joy. He accepted hugs from everyone else, before he scampered back through the door of the delivery room to be with Lydia and his new baby. If he smiled any bigger, he was going to break his perfect face.

After a while, everyone was allowed to go and see them, though in small groups. Isaac went with Grayson and Rena to meet Ainsley Whittemore, an adorable little baby girl with a thick tuft of red hair on her head. Lydia looked exhausted, her eyeliner smudged around her eyes, but she never looked happier. Jackson was trying to minimize the damage of her makeup with tissues, but he was a blubbering mess himself. When they left the new parents alone, Jackson was holding Ainsley for the first time and telling her what a perfect little angel she was. 

Almost six hours later, when all the kids were passed out in a puppy pile on the carpet, Erica gave birth to a little boy named Riley. After another meet and greet with that adorable little ball of pudge and the rest of the presents had been received, the pack decided to head home, since it was dark and the kids needed to be put to bed. 

“The babies are super cute, aren't they?” Isaac said, carrying a dozing Rena and walking with Grayson back to the car. 

“Yeah,” Grayson agreed, opening the backdoor so Rena could be put in her car seat. 

Isaac gently closed the door and straightened to put his arms around Grayson's middle, smiling up at him. “Kind of makes you want one of your own, doesn't it?”

“I already have one,” Grayson said, kissing Isaac gently before he extracted himself and walked around to the driver's side. 

“I know,” Isaac said, watching him. “I mean a baby though, not a toddler.”

Grayson made a noncommittal noise as he got into the car. Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best conversation to have in a parking lot, but Isaac had a feeling that it had more to do with the fact the Grayson was still wearing his wedding band than anything. He got into the car with a sigh. They'd talk about it some other time.

###### 

“You two excited for tonight?” Stiles asked as he slouched on the loveseat, which was once again made up with extra pillows and blankets for him to nest in. He was six months along now and definitely round. He was happy he had kept the baggy clothes he had worn his last pregnancy. 

The twins were cuddled up on either side of him, their ears against his stomach, listening to their little sister. This was their new favorite activity. Whenever Stiles sat down, which was a lot given that his ankles were swollen and he waddled like he had a watermelon between his legs, they wrapped around his tummy. Mostly they listened, but sometimes they chattered on about their days. And quite often, they fell asleep like this.

“Yeah,” Johnnie said, eyes closed as he was only half paying attention.

“I'm gonna get all the candy, more than last year!” Talia announced, tilting her head up and beaming at him.

“I bet you will,” Stiles told her, ruffling her hair.

It was Halloween, and soon it would be time to suit up and go to the neighborhood for trick or treating. Stiles looked down at his belly and sighed. “Too bad I can't dress up with you kids. I'm a bit big for my Superman costume.” 

The kids giggled at that. “Yeah, Papa,” Johnnie started to say. “You're like a...” He trailed off, before he sat up, looking at Stiles's big belly, before he face split into a grin and he dashed off.

Stiles blinked, before he looked at his daughter. “What's your brother up to?”

“I dunno,” she said with a shrug. 

Johnnie came back, holding jars of finger paint in his arms. “You should be a pumpkin, Papa!”

“Oh dear,” Stiles said.

Stiles ended up in the dining room (since paint was easier to clean off of tile than carpet) with his shirt rucked up to his chest. The kids were painting his stomach completely orange, and he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be a pumpkin or a blob, but he wasn't complaining. Eventually, when Derek came home from work, he found them.

“What's this?” Derek asked, pressing his lips together to hold back laughter.

“I'm the great pumpkin,” Stiles said, and the kids agreed. 

“You look it.” Derek just grinned when Stiles stuck his tongue out at him. “Can I help?” he asked the kids, and they nodded, so he knelt down with them. “Let's draw a Jack o' Lantern face.” They squealed at the idea. “Happy or scary?”

“Happy!” Johnnie said, and the same moment Talia said, “Scary!”

“Do I get any say on this?” Stiles asked.

“No,” they all said at once.

Stiles snorted, looking down at his orange belly. “Okay, why don't we let your sister decide.” He took a hand of each twin and set them on his stomach. “Whoever she kicks gets their choice of Jack o' Lantern face.”

The kids stared at his stomach like it was going to reveal the meaning of life. Between them, Derek smiled, looking up at Stiles in amusement. Their kids could concentrate very intensely when they tried hard enough. It took a very tense, long moment, but finally Johnnie jumped then grinned broadly.

“She wants a happy face!” the little boy said triumphantly.

“Then a happy face it is,” Derek said, before he dipped his finger in black and started to draw on Stiles's stomach. After that was done, they sent the kids to get washed up and dressed in their costumes. Derek washed his hands in the kitchen sink as Stiles pushed himself up, careful of his stomach.

“You're going to be Batman again, right?” Stiles asked, trying to figure out a way to change into outdoor clothes without messing up the masterpiece that was his belly.

“Mmhm,” Derek said as he picked black from underneath his fingernails. 

“Too bad I'm too fat to be Superman again. I ship them, you know.”

“What?” Derek asked, looking at him.

“Batman and Superman. I ship them.”

“I don't know what that means.”

Stiles rolled his eyes up. “Of course you don't. That's because your adventures on the internet are limited to work related stuff and baby animal videos on YouTube.”

Derek didn't try to deny it.

###### 

Rena wanted to be the Hulk for Halloween. Neither Isaac nor Grayson were at all surprised. She wore a little white tank top and a pair of ripped up purple shorts. Her bright purple hair scrunchies went well with her giant green Hulk fist gloves. She ran around punching things for about twenty minutes until it was time to go trick or treating. 

“It's kind of fitting,” Isaac told Grayson as they walked through the apartment parking garage with Rena running and yelling about smashing in front of them. “You definitely wouldn't like her when she's angry.” 

Grayson let out a guffaw of laughter, before he grabbed Isaac and kissed his cheek. 

Isaac got to carry Rena's bucket candy bucket, since her hands were otherwise occupied. It was fun watching the little girl stomping down the sidewalk and roaring at other kids in costume, ones usually quite a bit older than she was. When she saw a boy also dressed as the Hulk, she chased him, telling him she was going to smash him for being a copycat. Grayson eventually picked her up, looking a bit beside himself with laughter. 

They ran into pretty much everyone in the pack. First they saw Scott and Allison with their kids. Scott was dressed as classic Dracula, complete with a cape that had a tall collar, with fake teeth and fake blood running down his chin. Allison's hair was all frizzed out, and she was wearing a red stained wispy white night gown, looking creepy as a bride of Dracula. Zoe and Tony were dressed as Marceline and Finn from Adventure Time, respectively.

Next they saw Erica and Boyd, who weren't dressed up either. Little Riley was the most adorable pirate in the whole world. He had a little tricorn hat with a big white feather. His little booties were folded over. He was treating his pirate hook like a teething ring, slobbering all over it.

Rena cooed at him when she was close enough. “Hulk will protect you, Captain,” she told him, smacking her foam fists together. The baby just blinked at her with his giant brown eyes. 

Danny and Ethan were dressed as zombies, with ripped blood stained clothes and green make up. Pavel, in direction juxtaposition to his fathers, was an adorable little bumblebee. The baby was sleeping against Ethan's chest. Apparently the excitement of walking around for hours for candy was a bit much for someone that was only twenty-nine months old.

Lydia and Jackson were dressed in all black, and Lydia had a black lace veil over her face. Even their stroller was decked out in black with silver crosses on it. Inside the stroller, Ainsley was dressed in a onesie with a skeleton pattern on it. She was a precious little corpse for funeral director parents, especially since she was passed out and had a snot bubble coming out of her nose. 

Finally they saw Derek and Stiles on the other side of the street, and Isaac had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing at the state of Stiles's stomach. Now _that_ was adorable. Derek was dressed as Batman, which was what he was every year, because he was a creature of habit. Talia looked like a little viking, complete with a helmet that had horns, and she was dragging a small wooden dragon on wheels behind her. Johnnie was Iron Man, and he shined his hand repulsors at Rena, causing her to roar back at him.

After a while, Rena's bucket was nearly overflowing, and the little girl's energy was all but drained, so they decided one more house but then it was time to go home. They walked up a path lined with wonderfully carved pumpkins and orange lights. They rang the doorbell, and the little girl in Grayson's arms shifted, looking drowsy. 

“Trick or treat,” she drawled, too tired to lift her Hulk fists.

The woman there smiled at them, digging some candy out of her bowl and dropping in the bucket. “She's so cute,” she said, looking between Grayson and Isaac. “And she looks just like the both of you.”

That made Isaac want to smile, but Grayson said, almost too quickly, “Oh, he's not her other parent.” He sounded almost defensive, and Isaac gave him a confused look. Grayson swallowed, putting on a smile. “Her mother isn't with us anymore.”

“Oh,” the woman said, flicking her eyes between them again, before she stepped back and started to close the door. “Have a good night.”

Isaac watched Grayson turned and walk away, not sure what to think. It had been an honest mistake on the woman's part, one that he was sure pretty much anyone would just let go. But Grayson had been in such a hurry to correct her. Isaac hurried to catch up to his boyfriend, keeping silent for now. It wasn't a conversation to have in the middle of the street.

Later, when Rena had traded her Hulk costume for Tinkerbell pajamas and had gone to sleep after being promised that her candy was going to be safe, Isaac joined Grayson in the living room. “Hey,” Isaac said, sitting down on the couch and facing his boyfriend.

“Hm?” Grayson asked, toeing off his shoes and kicking them up onto coffee table. 

“Um,” Isaac started, before he looked down at his hands. “What you said to that woman about me not being Rena's other parent... Why did you seem so upset?”

Grayson put his feet on the floor, scooting over to pull Isaac into his arms. It was a warm, comforting embrace, and Isaac closed his eyes against Grayson's neck. “That was for Rena. I didn't want her to get confused. She doesn't remember her mother as it is,” Grayson explained.

Isaac sighed out a long breath, before he tilted his head up. “Grayson, I practically live with you. She knows that we're together. She even called me 'dad' once.”

That made Grayson stiffen, and he started to pull away. “You're not her dad.”

Isaac held onto Grayson's arms, looking up at his boyfriend's face. “I could be,” he said with a bit of a plea in his voice.

Grayson wasn't looking at him. “Isaac...”

Isaac let him go, let him pull away. “Are you sure you're not the one that doesn't want to get confused?”

That night, Isaac didn't stay.

###### 

It was Christmas time, which meant it was cold as balls, and Derek insisted that Stiles be wrapped up in as many clothes as possible. He already felt fat, and now he felt like a cardigan blimp. The only good thing about being eight months pregnant was that Stiles could sit in his nest and direct Derek and the kids in their Christmas decorating like a king upon a throne. The halls were decked, the tree was up, and the house smelled like everything delicious in the world.

They were all dressed in their Christmas best. Talia looked adorable in her little red dress with white stockings and shiny black shoes. Johnnie had on slacks with a red and green sweater and black loafers. Even Derek had dressed up with his nice pants and a braided gray sweater that Stiles had got him last Christmas. Stiles himself was a little limited, but Derek seemed to approve of his green cardigan and black pants if the way he was nibbling on Stiles's ear was anything to go by.

People started to arrive just after five, all of them dressed up and most of them bearing appetizers and side dishes. Stiles would have claimed the deviled eggs Erica and Boyd brought for himself had not Derek intercepted the platter and escorted it to the table. Stiles's dad came bearing baked yams, which was one of the only things he could cook, and handed them off to Derek so he could wrap Stiles in his arms and squeeze. Melissa was next in line, holding a platter of her famous turkey stuffing.

Zoe came dashing in, trailing Tony behind her, and her arms were full of haphazardly wrapped gifts. “I got you things!” she announced to Talia and Johnnie, and they immediately looked excited.

“Put them next to the tree,” Scott scolded her gently from the doorway. “Presents come after we eat.”

“Aww,” was the sentiment of the kids, but they obeyed anyway.

Isaac and Grayson came in with Rena dressed up so cutely in a black and gold dress. Stiles was happy to see them together. They had had some kind of spat on Halloween, but they seemed to have patched things up. Isaac was smiling brightly, so he must have been happy. Also they came with a pecan pie, and Stiles was going to devour that.

Peter arrived with a cake in his hands, and Deucalion was at his side with bags of gifts. After they were relieved of their charges and started into the house, Stiles noticed something that made him smile.

“I'm digging the reindeer sweater, Deuc,” he said, and even Derek snorted out a little laugh.

Deucalion frowned and put his hand on it, feeling the material. “This sweater has a reindeer on it?” he asked, before he turned his head toward Peter, his mouth set in an unimpressed line. 

“I thought we'd get further into the night before anyone commented on it,” Peter said with a nervous little laugh, as if that justified his actions.

Stiles and Derek quickly retreated from that conversation when Deucalion started to growl softly.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was put on the TV for the kids as the adults mingled, munching on appetizers and sipping cider. Scott told anyone who would listen about Zoe being put in gifted classes, practically beaming with pride. Apparently her reading and maths scores were well beyond an eight-year-old's usual level. Jackson commented that she must have taken after her mother, and Scott playfully punched him in the arm. Lydia was ecstatic about her Fields Medal nomination. Everyone got a bit lost when she started to explain the algorithm she had discovered that got her recognized.

Whenever Stiles and Danny were in the same room and given more than five minutes to socialize, they started talking about work, much to the annoyance of their husbands and anyone else that was around them.

“I don't understand what this woman didn't understand about the fact that we take three days off for Christmas,” Danny was saying, bouncing Pavel on his hip as Ethan stared at his glass like he wished there was tincture in it. “It's not like her website about wedding floral arrangements will be something everyone needs right this second.”

“Tell me about it,” Stiles agreed. “This one guy that I'm helping with the coding of his game wanted me to work through my c-section date. When I told him that I'd have to take some time off around then, he got all huffy at me and demanded why, so I told him that I was going to be cut open and a person was going to come out of me. It's not like I didn't tell him five times when we started this project that I'm freaking pregnant.”

Danny grinned at him, and he opened his mouth to say something, but then the doorbell rang.

“Oh, sorry,” Stiles said as he turned to follow Derek to the door. “Gotta go play host.” He snatched the back of Derek's sweater, pulling on it to make him slow down, because it was just cruel to walk faster then him when all he could really do was waddle. Derek put his arm around his shoulders so they could answer the door together.

Of all the people they could have expected to see there, they would have been wrong.

“Hey, guys!” Cora said, throwing her hands up in the air with bags swinging from her fingers. “Guess who's back!” 

“Holy shit,” Derek said, forgetting himself for a moment as a huge grin spread across his face. “Come here, you.” He held his arms out, and Cora more or less jumped into his embrace, squeezing him around the waist and picking him right up off of his toes.

“I'm glad to see you, big brother,” she said into Derek's broad chest, before she pulled back. “Here, take these.” She handed over the bags of gifts, before she turned to Stiles. “And look at you,” she said, her eyes going a little tiny bit misty. “You look so good. C'mere.” She hugged him gently, and Stiles kissed her cheek.

“It's great to see you, Cora,” he told her, feeling like he might cry. “You should have told us you were coming back. We could have picked you up from the airport.”

She just smiled at him. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“It's certainly that,” Derek said.

She let out a little giggle. “Oh, but wait, there's more.” She turned and went out the door, reaching off to the side. “I want you to meet someone.”

Derek perked up. He had been wondering about this mysterious Joe that Cora had mentioned all those months ago. Sometimes Stiles couldn't get him to shut up about him. Derek just couldn't seem to stop wondering if this man was good enough for his little sister.

Neither Derek nor Stiles said anything immediately when Cora pulled not a man to her side but a woman, but taken aback. She was a short omega, probably not even five foot tall, and a bit heavy set with dense freckles, long wavy red hair and dark brown eyes. She smiled at them, and there was a gap in her two front teeth.

“I'd like you to meet Jo,” Cora said, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Derek blinked several times. “So, you didn't mean 'Joseph,' you meant...”

“Joanne,” Jo finished for him, extending her hand for Derek to take.

Derek did so, smiling at her. “Sorry, Cora just let me assume you were a man for months.”

“She would,” Jo said, giving Cora a look.

It just made Cora laugh. “Well, if you're shocked by that, we'll be even more surprised by what we did in London.” She held up her hand to show off a silver band on her ring finger.

“You got married?” Derek asked, looking like if there were anymore surprises, he might fall down.

“Yup, and we're expecting!” Cora said proudly. Derek stared for a second, and then he just turned around and walked into the house. Cora let out a bark of a laugh, before she chased him. “Wait, I was kidding about that last part, promise!”

After a moment, Talia and Johnnie both screamed “Auntie Cora!” and she got tackled.

Stiles sighed, before looking at Jo. “Nice to meet you,” he said, hugging her. “Come in, let me feed you.”

After (way too much) food, it was presents time. The kids got to go first, and they were all gleeful about their new toys. They didn't even care when the adults started to open gifts, too interested in playing new 3DS games or, in the case of the littlest ones, build things with blocks. The gifts that all the adults got weren't too exciting. Chris Argent got everyone gift cards, as per usual.

Deucalion picked up a box he had stashed next to the couch and set it in a surprised Peter's lap. “What's this?” Peter asked, asked, tilting the box back and forth. “Why are there holes in it?” He ran his fingers over the holes pokes in the sides.

“Just open it,” Deucalion said placidly, a smile playing at his lips.

Peter narrowed his eyes a little, looking suspicious, before he slowly lifted the lid. Out popped the head of a kitten, black but for the tip of one ear. Peter stared at it in surprise for a long moment, and the kitten stared back. Then the kitten let out a loud 'ruu!' and Peter made a weird noise, before he picked it up and pulled it against his chest.

The kids immediately abandoned their new toys, rushing over to get a look at the little cat. It seemed more or less okay with being ogled at, but it tried to climb into Peter's sweater through the neck hole when little hands tried to pet it. 

“You got me a cat,” Peter said, still sounding awed.

“I thought it was appropriate, since you talk about cats all the time,” Deucalion said, his smile wider now.

“In passing.”

“Hardly.” Deucalion moved a little closer. “Do you like him?”

Peter looked at the cat, who headbutted his chin with a purr. He flushed, before he covered his eyes with a hand, using the other to support the kitten's butt. “Yes,” he said.

Deucalion leaned other, pressing his lips to the back of Peter's hand. “I'm glad.”

“What're you gonna name him?” Talia asked, staring intently at the little creature.

“I'm not sure,” Peer replied.

Talia stared for a little longer, before she whirled about and ran over to Derek, climbing into his lap. “Daddy, I want a kitty!”

Derek made a face, looking like he was expecting this conversation would probably end in tears.

The party was winding down, and John announced it was time for a family Christmas photo. At everyone's groans, he said, “Yeah, yeah, complain all you want, but you're not getting out of it. Everyone together!” The kids sat on the floor as several people piled onto the couch and everyone else stood behind it.

“Hey, Grayson,” John said as he set up the camera. “Go stand by Isaac.” He waved a hand at him. 

Grayson, who was standing at the end of the line while Isaac was on the opposite side, shook his head with a tight smile. “I'm okay.”

John and Isaac both gave him a similar look, but neither of them said anything. John set the camera and hurried to stand by Derek, who had his hands on Stiles's shoulders. There was a round of 'cheese!' before the flash went off, which made the kitten leap onto Deucalion and start scaling his sweater.

As everyone started to leave, Stiles stood with Derek and the door, thanking them all for coming and handing out hugs. Peter looked adorable with his kitten draped over his shoulder on the way out. Stiles looked over and saw Grayson and Isaac by the Christmas tree, talking in low tones. They were both frowning, looking unhappy, and Grayson was shaking his head. Stiles wanted to know what they were talking about, but he didn't dare extend his wolf hearing to find out.

After they left and everyone else was gone, Stiles waddled into the living room against and looked at the wrapping paper strewn all over the place. The kids had disappeared into their rooms, so they definitely weren't helping clean up. He sighed, before he lowered himself down onto the loveseat. “Not it,” he announced, and Derek huffed behind him.

###### 

It was a rainy February Sunday, and the kids had been trapped inside all day, so they were getting antsy. Usually they got to expel all of their energy outside, but their backyard was probably flooded, especially under their swing set. They had played their games for as long as they could sit still, and now they were sitting on the back porch swing, swaying slowly back and forth as they gazed mournfully out into the storm. 

Derek was in the kitchen, and he looked out the window at them. “Hey, kids,” he called, and they turned to peer through the glass at him. “Come pick what you want for lunch.” They hopped down, dragging their feet as they came back in. “Quesadillas today. Do you want chicken or beef?”

“Beef,” Talia decided.

“Shrimp,” Johnnie said.

Derek blinked at him. “We don't have shrimp.”

“But I want it!” the little boy demanded, crossing his arms and pouting.

“We don't have it,” Derek repeated, sighing. Johnnie must have been extra agitated to be this spiteful.

“I want it!” Johnnie all but yelled.

“Stop being a butthead!” Talia said, whacking him on the arm.

Johnnie whirled on her, giving her a shove. “You're a butthead!”

“Stop it, you two,” Derek warned them.

Talia pointed on her brother. “But he's a butthead!”

“Nuh uh! You are!” Johnnie countered.

Stiles poked his head around the corner. “What's going on in here?” he asked.

“Johnnie's a butthead!” Talia informed him.

“No, Talia's a butthead!” Johnnie whined.

“Neither of you are buttheads,” Stiles said as he tottered into the room.

“Thank you,” Derek said as he turned on the burner to start lunch.

“Because your daddy holds that title.” Stiles's grin was downright evil.

The twins looked at each other, before they smiled and pointed at Derek. “Daddy's a butthead!” they squealed in unison. 

Derek groaned with a roll of his eyes. Well, that was one way to get them to stop fighting. 

Stiles laughed, his hands on his stomach, and then all of the sudden he let out a gasp. Derek looked over to see Stiles's pants and the floor under him soaked with water. The twins both screeched, jumping away behind the breakfast bar. Derek said something vulgar, grabbing some dish towels and rushing over to drop them absently at Stiles's feet. 

“Okay, hospital,” he said, taking Stiles's hands and turning him toward the front door.

“What's happening?” Talia asked, eyes wide.

“Baby's coming,” Derek told them, and they gasped before they dashed toward the door.

“You left the burner on,” Stiles said, holding his stomach and sounding pained. Derek said another curse, hurrying over to turn it off before he scooped Stiles into his arms. “Burn the house down,” Stiles remarked as he was carried out to the car. It rained down hard on their heads as they went, thunder rolling and lightning striking in the distance.

The kids got themselves into their car seats, and Stiles was texting the pack as Derek drove, probably far faster than he should have. Derek wasn't going to be absent for this birth. He was going to see Stiles through it like he should have when the twins were born. He was going to be there to hold his hand. Peter met them at the hospital, so Derek was able to leave the twins with him and see Stiles back through the double doors and into the exam rooms to help him into a hospital gown.

“Oh, I did not miss this part,” Stiles said as he leaned against the bed and winced with another contraction as he was trying to pull his shirt off.

“It'll be over soon,” Derek promised him as he took the hem of Stiles's shirt and lifted it over his head. 

“Not soon enough. You're not the one with a basketball with legs dancing around on your intestines,” Stiles complained, putting his hands on Derek's shoulders as his soaked underwear and pants were pushed down.

“It'll be worth it,” Derek said, picking up the hospital gown.

Stiles gently cuffed him on the side of the ear. “Shut up and sympathize with my pain.”

Derek laughed, pressing his lips to Stiles's cheek, before he helped him up onto the bed now that he was gowned. “I'm sorry,” he said, taking Stiles's hand as his mate laid back. “Squeeze my hand every time it hurts.” Stiles immediately gave his hand a squeeze, crushing his knuckles together and making him hiss.

“No takesies backsies,” Stiles told him very seriously.

Soon a nurse came in to check Stiles's dilation, attach an IV to his hand and deliver an anesthetic that made his lower half go completely numb. Stiles got woozy after that, his eyelashes fluttering and his speech getting a little slurred. “Don't leave me,” he mumbled, holding onto Derek's hand as best he could.

“I'm not,” Derek promised him.

“They're gonna cut an alien outta me,” Stiles mumbled, and yeah, he was definitely out of it now.

Soon Stiles was wheeled into a surgery room, where Derek had to let go of his hand for just a minute to be sterilized and put on a smock and a hair cap. Then he took up Stiles's hand again, rubbing his thumb along his knuckles. Plastic drapes were placed over Stiles's stomach, and a green curtain was erected over his chest so when he came to again, he wouldn't be faced with his body being opened up. 

Derek didn't want to watch, but it was a bit difficult to look away from Stiles's stomach being split open. He watched, eyes a bit wide, until Stiles squeezed his hand again and he looked down at his face. “Hey,” he told him and Stiles looked around as if in confusion.

“Oh, right, baby time,” Stiles said, before his eyes landed on Derek's face, and he smiled. “Hey there, handsome. Come here often?”

“Only when my mate's giving birth,” Derek replied with a smirk. 

Suddenly there was a sharp wail, and Derek looked over to see a blotchy red perfect little creature be handed over to a nurse to be cleaned. He pressed his lips as he watched her wiggled around a little as blood and other such stuff was wiped off of her little body. Then the nurse over around to show her to Stiles, letting the little girl lay against his shoulder.

“Hey, baby girl,” Stiles said, tears bursting from his eyes and pouring down his cheeks. “Nice to see you finally.”

The nurse smiled, before he lifted the baby up and handed her over to Derek, who cradled her gently in his arms. “Hello, sweetheart,” he told her, his heart in his throat. “My little Claudia.”

###### 

“Hey look, the sun's out,” Isaac said as he was sitting next to Grayson in the waiting area with Rena in his lap, her hand buried in a bag of Goldfish crackers. It was that exact moment that Derek came out to tell them that the baby had arrived.

When he and Grayson had their turn to go see her, Isaac couldn't help but get choked up at the sight of Stiles on the bed, looking tired but so happy, with Claudia in his arms and Derek sitting next to him, his face alight with happiness. He wanted that. He wanted to have a baby. He wanted a family of his own, and he wanted it with Grayson and Rena.

“Can we talk?” Isaac asked his boyfriend as they exited the room so Erica and Boyd could have a look. Grayson nodded and led him over to the vending machines down the hall where it was more secluded. Isaac adjusted Rena on his hip and smiled up at Grayson. “Remember that conversation we sort of had with Ainsley and Riley were born?”

Grayson blinked at him. “No.”

Isaac's lips twitched. “About how babies are cute, and it just makes you want one of your own?”

“Oh,” Grayson said, glancing away. “Yeah, I remember that.”

“Well, I want one,” Isaac said firmly, trying not to be put off by the way Grayson was shutting down again. “And I want one with you.”

“Isaac,” Grayson said, starting to look pained. 

“I know—I know that it's difficult for a beta to impregnate an omega, but there are ways. There's artificial insemination, and if that doesn't work, donors.” God, he wanted to cry. He could feel all this emotion welling up inside of him. He was pouring his heart out to Grayson, and the man looked like he wanted to run. Finally he looked at Rena. “What do you think? Do you want to be a big sister?”

“Isaac!” Grayson snapped, before he pulled Rena out of Isaac's arms, leaving him feeling cold. 

“I want a family, Grayson,” Isaac insisted, blinking away the burning in his eyes. “What do you want? We've been together for almost a year and a half, and it feels like our relationship is going nowhere.”

“I don't know,” Grayson said, his voice going soft and small.

Isaac felt his chin tremble. “Do you even love me?” He swallowed, taking a step closer. “I know we haven't said it before, but I thought...” Grayson gazed into his eyes for a long moment, his brows coming together, before he finally looked away. “You don't, do you?” Isaac asked, before he grabbed Grayson's hand and pressed his thumb against the silver band there. “You still love her, so you can't let anyone into your life.”

Rena made a distressed noise between them, reaching up to touch Isaac's face. “Daddy?”

Grayson quickly stepped back, his Adam's apple working as he swallowed a few times. “I'm sorry,” he said, like the words were being ripped from him. “I can't be what you need.”

“Why don't you let me decide what I need?” Isaac pleaded softly.

“This isn't working, Isaac,” Grayson said, not looking at him now. “It can't. And it's not fair to you. I'm sorry.” He turned, walking away with quick strides of his long legs.

“Grayson,” Isaac called after him. “Please wait!”

Grayson didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is about 6k words longer than I originally intended. Oh well! xD
> 
> EDIT: OH MY GOD PFFFFFFFT I totally forgot to add Grayson's note in the first posting of this chapter. I'm awesome like that. There was a marker that said "NOTE GOES HERE" and nobody said anything. Bwahahaha. FFS. I'm sorry people who read the first version. You missed out on some cuteness. I hope you come back and see it. xD
> 
> EDIT 2: Hello lovely readers. I just wanted to let you know that this story is now on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. I am pursuing writing my own original book, and I will come back to this story later. Sorry for this. And thanks for reading. <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New developments. Everyone's getting a little older.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by [WhatTheHale](http://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthehale).

Lately Talia and Johnnie had been watching a lot of movies with ponies and horses in them, and they had taken to pretending as if they were riding their own through the house and in the back yard. They had used fallen branches at first, but then Derek bought them the toys with a toy horse head on the end of a stick, which they had been ecstatic about. He had gotten a black and white one for Johnnie and a purple and pink one for Talia, but neither Stiles nor Derek had been surprised when the toys had end up reversed. Johnnie claimed his pony was magical. Talia claimed her horse was the one from Brave.

Because they were so excited about all things equestrian, Derek suggested they take them to a horse ranch so they could ride real ponies. The trip had been a surprise, though the kids figured it out the moment they saw the fenced pastures with the horses grazing. They had screamed all the way up to the entrance, had bounced up and down as Stiles and Derek arranged for them to ride, and had run toward the large circular area where the ponies were waiting.

Talia choose a slick black pony named Belle, and when the stablehand tried to help her onto the saddle, she waved her hands. “I can do it!” she said, lifting one leg and bouncing on her other as she tried to get her foot in the stirrup. She managed to do that, and she grabbed onto the saddle to pull herself up, but she didn't quite manage it. Her hands flailed around the saddle, and she nearly landed on her butt, but the woman helping managed to catch her. “Okay, I can't do it,” Talia admitted, before she let herself be lifted up into the saddle.

Johnnie had a fluffy grey pony named Wilfred. Johnnie willingly let the woman help him up onto the saddle, grinning wildly as he took the reins. He looked like he was starting a magical adventure likes of which he could have never dreamed before.

With a tug to the reins of each pony, the worker set them walking around the perimeter of the corral, with Talia's pony in front of Johnnie's. After that she moved to climb up onto the fence and sit near where Derek and Stiles were watching. “Your kids are cute.”

Stiles smiled as he watched them make their round, rubbing his hand in a circle on Claudia's back as she slept against his chest. It had been a couple weeks since he'd left the house, as he had been recuperating from his surgery. His c-section scar was bright pink again, but it would fade in time.

“They've been obsessed with horses for weeks,” Derek said, folding his arms on the fence.

“I was about their age when I got into horses,” the woman said, giving them a smile. “Haven't stopped yet.”

The kids came around near them, and Talia looked extremely underwhelmed. “Is this as fast as she goes?” she asked with her patented pout on her face. 

“Afraid so,” the woman said with a bit of a chuckle.

Talia's frown deepened, and she huffed.

“Having fun, Johnnie?” Derek asked.

“My mighty steed!” the little boy announced, grinning from ear to ear. Well, that was certainly an answer.

“She's just like you,” Stiles told his mate as the kids moved around the corral. “But instead of fast black cars, she wants fast black ponies.”

“Runs in the family,” Derek said with a shrug. 

Claudia burbled, and Stiles looked down at her. She yawned, before she put her fingers in her mouth to slobber on. “Are you going to like fast and shiny things?” Stiles asked her, and when she let out a little 'waa' he kissed her forehead. “I bet you will, just because it'll make me worry.”

“My butt hurts!” Talia whined as they came back around on the ponies a couple minutes later. “And I'm bored!” She just let go of the reins and crossed her arms, apparently figuring out that her ride was going to do what she had been trained to, which was walk slowly in a circle.

“Into battle, we ride!” Johnnie boomed, unperturbed by his sister's annoyance. 

A little later, Talia threw up her hands. “Wow, another circle!”

Stiles snorted, thinking Talia was far too young to be so negative. At least Johnnie was having fun.

Later, when the ride was over, Talia was more than ready to be done. She walked around a bit bowlegged, looking grumpy before she tugged on Derek's shirt until he picked her up. Before Johnnie got down off of his pony, he made sure to hug his neck and say “I will miss you, my stallion.” He _skipped_ to the car.

The moment they were on the road, Johnnie spoke up, “I want a pony.”

Stiles looked over to see Derek's lips move silently to 'Jesus Christ, no.' He took a breath and looked back in the rear view mirror. “We're not getting a pony.”

“Please!” Johnnie pleaded.

“No,” Derek said firmly.

“I want a pony too!” Talia piped up.

Derek made a face. “You hated riding that pony.”

“If it's my pony, it'll be a _fast_ pony!” That was perfect reasoning for a five-year-old.

“We're not getting a pony,” Derek said again.

“Pleeeeeeeeease!” the twins whined in unison.

“No.”

“Papa, I want a pony,” Talia cried.

Stiles was trying not to laugh. “You can't have a pony, honey.”

“Awww,” was their opinion, but they didn't bring it up again.

That night, after they put the kids to bed (even Claudia, which was a miracle), Stiles flopped all over Derek's lap on the couch. He snuggled into Derek's chest, and his mate put down the book he had been trying to read. “You smell like a stable,” he said, pressing his nose into Derek's neck.

“So do you,” Derek said, lifting his hand to run his fingers through Stiles's hair.

It made Stiles shut his eyes with an appreciative noise. “Obviously, we should take a shower together. To remedy this, I mean. Together.” 

Derek chuckled. “I agree.”

“Good,” Stiles said, before he tilted his head up to kiss Derek's bristly jaw. Then he paused and sat up in Derek's lap to look at him. “But first, I wanted to suggest something.”

“What's that?” Derek asked, a smile spreading across his lips and his eyebrow going up in a manner that said he was expecting this suggestion to be sexy.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. “It's about getting the kids a pet.”

“Oh,” Derek said, face falling. “What kind of pet?”

“Well, obviously we can't get them the pony they want, but there's no reason we can't get them a puppy, right?” 

Derek tilted his head, and he looked like he was about to say something, but abruptly there were loud squeals from upstairs. The twins came thundering down, dashing into the living room and crowding in on them while screaming things like 'Puppy! Puppy!' and 'I want a fluffy puppy!' and 'You said it! You said it! You can't take it back!'

“You two are supposed to be asleep!” Stiles said, laughing and grabbing onto them to pull them up onto the couch. He couldn't be upset with them when they looked so happy. Their faces were lit up with such joy like it was Christmas all over again.

“Oh God, why?” Derek said, rubbing his eyes, before he let out a loud sigh. “Okay, a dog.” The twins let out matching screams of delight. “A small dog!” he clarified. “Very small dog.”

The next day, they went to a shelter and ended up with a chocolate lab puppy with a big head and massive paws that it lumbered around on. Stiles laughed as Derek mumbled about how he had no control over anything.

###### 

It had not even been a week since they broke up, and Isaac already knew that it was going to be impossible to work with Grayson. He had thought they could be mature adults and put their personal feelings aside, but that was until he realized that he and Grayson were doing everything in their power not to interact. If Grayson entered a room Isaac was already in, he'd quickly find a reason to leave. And vice versa. This was pretty difficult when they were limited to a single building all day long.

It made work more difficult. Before when they were working as a team, in meant that story time, meal time, nap time and play time was a dual effort. Now each things took twice as long since one person did everything and the other person made themselves scarce and awkwardly tried to figure out something else to do.

Isaac had had enough. “This isn't working,” he finally said, putting his hands on the counter of the kitchen and staring at the plates he was making. He could feel Grayson behind him, had felt him when he came in and knew he wanted to retreat.

“What isn't working?” Grayson asked flatly.

Isaac didn't want to turn around, but he couldn't have this conversation facing the cabinets. He turned and leaned his butt against the counter. “Working together like this. We're walking on eggshells around each other, and I'm sick of it.”

Grayson swallowed, flicking his gaze away. “What should we do then?”

“I don't know,” Isaac said, feeling so damn tired like this conversation was already sucking his energy away. He didn't want to fight. He just wanted everything to be okay again. “Talk?”

“We have talked.”

“We haven't talked about us now,” Isaac said, starting to notice a heaviness on his chest. “Now that we're not together anymore.”

“We go back to the way things were before we were together.” Grayson looked tired too, like he wanted to sit down and bury his head in his hands.

Isaac was at least comforted that Grayson was affected too, that their time together had meant something to him, even if it hadn't meant as much to him as it had to Isaac. “There is no before. The moment we met, we were flirting and teasing. We can't go back to that.”

Grayson heaved a heavy sigh. “What do you want from me, Isaac?”

“How about some closure?” Isaac spat, stepping away from the counter. “You ended this, but you never said what I am to you now. Am I your friend?”

“Of course, you're my—“

“Friends don't treat each other like this. We're acting like one of us will burst into flames if we make a wrong move.” Isaac threw his hands into the air.

“Isaac,” Grayson said, almost in a chiding way. 

It rubbed Isaac in all the wrong ways. “What? So I shouldn't care that someone I love is acting like I'm a landmine?”

Grayson shook his head with a sigh. “I can't talk to you when you're like this,” he said, turning and going out of the room.

“Don't you walk away from me,” Isaac barked after him, following. Lunch could wait for now. He grabbed Grayson's wrist when he reached him, but it was quickly jerked out of his hand. The kids were watching TV, but they looked over at them curiously. “Yes, I still love you, and I can't just turn my emotions off. I actually give a damn,” Isaac bit out through clenched teeth. “Unlike you.”

Grayson flinched like he'd been slapped. “You think I don't care? You think I have relationships for a year and a half with people I don't give a shit about?”

A few of the kids let out low 'ooooh's due to his word choice.

Isaac was too upset to care about cursing in front of the kids right now. “Obviously! You never once told me you cared about me. I thought you just needed time. But now I know that you were just with me because I was a convenient warm body.”

Grayson's face twisted up into outrage. “Fuck you very much for thinking that!”

Rena came over, tears rolling down her face. “No fighting!” she screamed, latching onto Isaac's leg. “Stop! Stop it!”

Before Isaac could even think to comfort her, Grayson swung her into his arms. “Screw this, I'm out of here,” he growled as he headed toward the front exit.

Isaac watched him go. “So, you're just going to quit? You're going to run away again, just like a coward?” The only answer he got was the jingling of the front bell.

The next day Grayson didn't come to work, and Isaac didn't call him.

###### 

Claudia was crying. It wasn't uncommon, but Stiles wished it wasn't at three in the morning. He dragged himself out of bed, walking with slow, heavy steps out of the room and toward the nursery. He stopped in the doorway, blinking at what he saw. 

Talia was standing next to the crib, reaching through the wooden slats of the crib to gently rub her little sister's belly. “It's okay, baby,” Talia was saying in a low voice. “Big sister's here.” Claudia kept making little noise of malcontent, and Talia shushed her gently. “It's okay. I got you.”

Stiles rubbed his lips, but he couldn't wipe his smile away. He stepped into the room, flipping the light on, and Talia whipped around and looked guilty, like she was doing something wrong. Stiles just ruffled her hair. “You're supposed to be sleeping, little miss. But since you're here, want to help me feed your sister?”

“Yeah,” Talia said with a rapid nod.

Stiles moved over to the place where they kept the bottles and formula, mixing some quickly and screwing on the top tightly. He then offered it to Talia. “Shake that up really well.”

Talia took the bottle and shook it like her duty in life, getting her whole body into the action. She stopped once, looking carefully at the bottle, before she kept on doing it. “Shake, shake!” she huffed out, a little breathless.

“That's good, honey,” Stiles said, managing not to laugh somehow, before he took the bottle and set it in the little heating machine. He set his hand on Talia's hair as she came up close to the counter, pressing her nose into the edge as she stared curiously while the machine counted down. When it beeped, he picked up the bottle, turning it to test the temp on his wrist.

Talia held her arm out, bouncing up and down. “Me, me!” She watched as Stiles took her hand and let a few drops fall on her wrist. “Why do you do that?” she asked, staring at the droplets.

“To make sure it's not too hot,” Stiles said, going over to the crib to pick Claudia up. He sat down in the rocking chair, and Talia hurried over to stand between his legs, watching as he gave her the bottle. “I used to do this for you,” he said as Claudia's wide eye flicked about. “When you were really little just like her.”

“Johnnie too?” Talia asked, voice soft. 

“Yup, Johnnie too,” Stiles said, smiling at his girls. “Here, hold the bottle for her.” Talia lifted her hand, supporting it, and her laid his hand over the back of hers to control the angle.

“Was I really cute like Claudia?” Talia asked, turning her eyes up.

“Of course you were,” Stiles said, giving her a peck on the forehead. “The cutest.” That made Talia grin, and he smiled back.

After feeding, he led Talia out of the room, shutting the light off, and he was about to take her to her room, but Johnnie came stumbling down the hallway. “Hey, kiddo,” Stiles said, watching the little boy rub his eye before colliding with Stiles's legs. “Why're you up?”

“I had a nightmare,” Johnnie said with a big sniff.

The puppy came barreling down the hallway, pressing sniffing at their feet. Her name was Chewbacca, which was Johnnie's idea. Derek had tried to tell him that Chewbacca was a boy, but Johnnie had just insisted that they were the same color and totally made the same sounds, so the name stuck.

“Okay, buddy, let's get you back to bed,” Stiles said as he rubbed his son's back.

“Can I sleep with you and Daddy?” Johnnie asked, turning his green eyes up and blasting Stiles with a full force pout.

Talia moved in, hugging her brother and adding her brown eyes to the attack. “Yeah, Papa, can we?”

Stiles sighed, because only a monster could say no to that. He led them into his and Derek's bedroom, and the kids climbed up onto the bed, getting under the covers and snuggling against each other in the middle. Derek was dead to the world, snoring softly. Stiles got onto the bed too, ready to sandwich his kids in.

Chewie jumped up and down at the side of the bed, too small to get onto it. She let out some truly pitiful whines until Stiles picked her up. She pranced right between the kids and flopped down, big ears going everywhere.

Everybody slept in. It was nearly noon when Derek woke up and asked when the kids and the dog had gotten into bed with them. Derek made pancakes, and Johnnie and Talia both fed half of theirs to Chewie.

###### 

Isaac was shopping with Stiles. He only needed milk, bread and cheese, and Stiles had said that he only needed a few things too. Well, an hour later, and a few things turned into just about everything in the store. Isaac wasn't exactly surprised. Derek was at home with the kids, so Stiles was taking advantage of his momentary freedom.

Isaac was in charge of pushing the cart, which meant he lazily followed along behind Stiles. His things were in the child's seat basket, and he was beyond ready to leave, but Stiles was comparing peanut butters. Apparently the twins had become less interested in the one that he usually bought, so he needed to switch it up. Isaac had his elbow on the cart handlebar, cheek on his knuckles, and he was honestly considering taking a nap standing up.

But then Isaac saw Rena at the opposite end of the aisle. She was holding onto a box of raisins, digging into it and stuffing her mouth full. Grayson appeared behind her, carrying a hand basket. He took something off of the shelf, a jar of grape jelly it looked like. Rena was looking around in boredom, and when she spotted Isaac her eye lit up, before he tugged on Grayson's pant leg to get his attention too. 

Isaac offered them both a smile, trying for pleased to see them, but he probably just looked sad. Grayson gave him a similar tight expression, and he intercepted Rena before she could run down the aisle to Isaac. He took her hand in his and led her away, and Rena waved with her box of raisins.

Though he waved back, Isaac felt hollow and cold. He couldn't even begin to fathom the emptiness that had been created when they left his life, and it hurt to even think about. He stared in the direction they had gone, folding his arms on the handrail of the cart, before he looked down and gave a sigh. He didn't think he would ever be able to think of them and not feel a throbbing ache in his chest.

“Want me to have him offed?” Stiles offered lightly, having finally decided on Nutella and setting it in the basket. The suggestion startled a snort out of Isaac, but he shook his head, smiling just a little. “You sure?” Stiles said, drawing out the second word and nudging Isaac in the side. “I know a guy who knows a guy.” To that Isaac pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh. “I have a coupon,” Stiles went on, as ridiculous as ever. “Half off one murder.”

Finally Isaac let himself release a guffaw. “Does the coupon expire?” he asked, propelling the cart forward when Stiles started to walk again.

“Maybe, better take advantage while you can.”

Isaac shook his head, sighing. When they reached the end of the aisle, he couldn't help but glance around for Grayson and Rena. He didn't see them thought. “I don't want him dead,” he told his friend as he followed him to the packaged meats.

“You sure?” Stiles asked as he poked at a bundle of steaks. “I would.”

“You threaten Derek's life when he uses the last of the toilet paper.”

“He should always put a new roll on the thing. It's a law,” Stiles said with a huff.

Isaac smiled at that. “Despite how we are now, Grayson brought a lot more happiness to my life than heartache,” he said. “He just—he just isn't ready for a serious relationship.”

“Isn't ready, or isn't willing?” Stiles asked.

“...Both.”

Isaac dropped his forehead on his folded arms as Stiles went back to inspecting meat. Even though their relationship had blown up in their faces, Isaac didn't hate Grayson. He knew that they both just couldn't give each other what they needed. He wished he had been able to vocalize that instead of resorting to blame and insults, but Grayson just incited so much passion in him. He regretted what he had said to him, when he had accused Grayson of just using him. He knew that wasn't true, but he had just wanted to hurt Grayson as much as he had been hurt. It was hard to be rational around him when he wanted to both slap him and kiss him breathless.

###### 

Grayson got his book deal, which was pretty damn lucky since he'd quit his job and was living on savings again. He'd gotten a pretty hefty advance from the publisher, which allowed him to stay home and write. It also meant he could be at home with his daughter when she wasn't at preschool. He was able to buy her things things he hadn't before, like all of the expensive toys that the other kids had. But unfortunately owning a Wii didn't really compare to playing with her friends.

Rena missed her friends, who she had gotten to be with all the time when she was at the daycare. Nowadays Grayson took her to the park a few days a week, and she sometimes saw the other kids, but she wasn't the queen of the jungle gym anymore. What little interaction she had at the park wasn't equivalent to eating, napping and playing together for hours.

It didn't help that she didn't know any of the kids in her class. Talia and Johnnie were in a grade above her, and they didn't have recess together. Zoe was in elementary school. And all the other kids were too young to have started preschool.

Needless to say, Rena was unhappy. She had begun to show it at home, becoming more obstinate when it came to meals and bath time. Naps were practically impossible, and putting her down for the night was an increasingly uphill battle.

“What about this one?” Grayson asked, lifting up Rena's The Little Mermaid storybook. It was the third one he'd offered to read for her bedtime, and her reaction was the same each time.

“No!” she said, her arms crossed, and shook her head firmly.

Grayson sighed, looking down at the pile of books he'd brought over to her bed. “Well, which one do you want me to read, baby?”

“You don't do it right!” Rena screamed, pushing all of the books off of her bed and slouching down with a pout on her face.

Looking down at the mess, Grayson sighed through his nose. “I don't do what right?”

“I want Daddy,” Rena huffed out, not looking at him, instead kicking one leg under her covers.

Grayson felt a pain in his chest. “Rena, I am your daddy.”

Rena looked at him, before she pointed at his face. “You're not the right Daddy.”

“You mean Isaac?” Grayson asked, leaning over to pick up the books off the floor. When Rena confirmed his suspicions, he went over to the bookshelf and put up the storybooks. “Isaac's not coming back.”

“Why not?” Rena asked, her puffed out bottom lip starting to tremble now.

Grayson went back to sit next to her, trying to take her hand in his, but she wasn't having it. How did one explain the termination of a relationship to a four-year-old? Isaac had been in their lives for such a long time. She was feeling the loss of his presence just like he was.

“He's just not. He loves you very much, baby, but we decided not to be... not to be your daddies together. It has nothing to do with you. We were just fighting and decided it was best if we stopped being—“ Boyfriends? Lovers? Mates? Partners? “—Friends. It's better this way.”

Obviously Rena didn't agree if her expression was anything to go by. “I want Isaac,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “He reads to me the best, and he tucks me in the best, and he makes the best peanut butter sammiches.”

“I'm sorry, Rena,” Grayson told her, his chest tightening even more. “But Isaac's not coming back.”

Rena's face screwed up, moisture coming to her eyes, before all of the sudden she burst into kicking and flailing. “I want Isaac!” she screamed, kicking off her covers and rolling from side to side. “I want Isaac!” Tears flooded her face, dropping onto her pillow and pajamas. 

“Rena,” Grayson tried say as she screamed and threw her tantrum. He attempted to gather her in his arms, but that only got him a little fist in the nose, so he drew back to give her room to tire herself out.

This fit wasn't unexpected. Weeks of being away from the daycare and being at home seemed to lead up to this, if her increasing agitation was anything to go by. Grayson had tried to spend as much time with her as he could. He only wrote when she was at school, and when she was at home he played games with her, read to her, chased her around the apartment and tried to make her laugh as much as possible. He loved her so much, and he had tried to show it where he hadn't been able to before. But he had come to realize something.

Grayson just wasn't enough.

It took ten minutes or so of her tantrum, but Rena wound down to sniffles, pulling her covers up around her shoulders and turning toward the wall instead of facing her father. Grayson started to rub her back in soothing circles, telling her that he loved her and that he was so, so sorry. When she fell asleep, he was just as exhausted as she was.

After stumbling to bed, he just laid there for a while, staring up at the ceiling. He felt drained, but his mind was buzzing with thoughts. He had been a kind of lone wolf since his wife had died, and it had more or less worked for him. He had thought it had worked for Rena too, but now that she had a sense of pack, it seemed to pain her to give it up. He didn't want her to hurt, but he also didn't want to confuse her more by letting her go back to the daycare with her friends and to get attached to Isaac again. Or even more. 

Grayson pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, letting out a loud sigh. Then he turned and dug around in his nightstand for a picture he kept there. It was Natalka and Rena, one the day the little girl was born. She was wrapped up in a yellow blanket with a purple beanie on her head, looking squishy and unimpressed with the outside world. Natalka looked worn out, cheekbones showing and heavy bags under her eyes, but she was smiling as big as he had ever seen. 

It had taken a year of trying before Natalka had finally gotten pregnant, and she'd had complications immediately and throughout the whole three terms. She been told that she should have constant bed rest and to only get up when she absolutely needed to. When Grayson wasn't teaching, he was at her side, getting her everything she needed and taking away her pain if she had it. He had a feeling she didn't always tell him when she was hurting, but that's just the kind of woman she was.

Rena had been born a couple weeks early, and by that time Natalka had withered away to almost nothing. Grayson had thought she would get better now that she didn't have so much stress on her body, so he had allowed himself to feel hope as he listened to his wife sing Ukrainian lullabies to their infant daughter. But he had come home to her one night, sitting in the chair next to the crib, still and quiet like she was sleeping.

Grayson ran his thumb over the picture, tracing along Natalka's black hair and framing her pale blue eyes, the ones she'd passed on to their daughter. Emotion welled up in his throat, and a sob was torn from his lips. He laid the picture against his chest as hot tears poured out of the corners of his eyes.

“What am I doing, Nattie?” he asked the silence.

###### 

Spring was springing, which meant there were all kinds of birds and squirrels around the daycare yard. Isaac decided to teach the kids how to make bird feeders, and the bigger kids, who could be trusted with glue, got to make bird houses. The construction wasn't difficult. It was just a matter of putting everything together then decorating it. There was finger paint all over the place, so thank goodness Isaac had had the foresight to suggest for the project to take place outside.

Isaac screwed a hook into a branch and bent to lift Johnnie up so he could hang his bright green and blue bird house from it. It was very attractive, thought Isaac wasn't sure what the designs were. Talia was next, and her bird house was predictably covered in cartoon wolves, and the roof was painted with a moon and stars.

“When will the birdies come?” Johnnie asked as he stared up at his creation.

“Shouldn't take long,” Isaac told him, ruffling his hair. “Mommy and daddy birds will be looking for places to lay eggs and keep their families safe.”

“Will we be able to see the baby birdies?” Talia asked excitedly.

Isaac started to lead them back toward the little picnic tables where some kids were still working on their creations. “It's better to leave the baby birds alone.”

“Why?”

Isaac tilted his head, trying to figure out how to word this in a way she'd understand. “You know how your daddies can tell who you are by the way you smell?” The twins nodded. “Well, mommy and daddy birds do the same thing. If you put your scent on the baby birds, their mommies and daddies won't be able to find them because they'll just smell you.” 

“Oh,” Talia said with a blink.

“Then we'll leave them alone,” Johnnie said with a determined nod.

“Good plan.” Isaac watched them hurry over to the other kids, probably to offer their assistance in decorating the bird feeders. Inside his pocket, his phone trilled, and he pulled it out. He froze at the name and very nearly didn't answer. He swallowed hard and slid his finger across the face then put it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hi,” came Grayson's voice from the other side of the line. “How are you?”

“Fine,” Isaac replied, eyebrows coming together. Were they doing polite social calls now?

Grayson was silent for a few heartbeats. “Good, that's good. Uh, say, I have a favor to ask. I have to leave town for a couple days, and I need someone to watch Rena.”

“Oh,” Isaac said, looking down and scuffing his shoe against the grass. “Book stuff?”

“Something like that,” Grayson said evasively, and Isaac didn't pry. “I didn't want to ask, but Rena has school and you're the only person I—she trusts.”

Isaac caught the slip up, and something inside him warmed a little even though he didn't want it to. “Sure, it's not a problem.”

“Great,” Grayson said, and Isaac could hear him swallow hard. “Thanks.”

A couple hours later, Grayson arrived with Rena and a bag of her stuff. The little girl immediately ran over to Isaac, jumping up and down with her arms extended to ask to be picked up. Isaac couldn't help his grin, swinging her up into his arms and giving her a hug.

“I missed you, Daddy,” Rena said, so softly that Isaac would have missed it if his entire world hadn't just become her embrace.

“I missed you too, munchkin,” Isaac told her, hoping he didn't start crying.

Grayson was standing awkwardly in the entryway, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Thanks again for watching her. She's a bit young to start missing school.”

“It's not a problem,” Isaac said, stepping forward to take the bag of Rena's things and sliding it onto his shoulder. “I hope everything goes well with your book stuff.” He smiled, and it was genuine, because he couldn't be sad with Rena in his arms.

Grayson gave a nod, before he stepped close and pressed a kiss to Rena's head. “You be good.” He turned his eyes to Isaac, and there was something tense but not altogether bad in his gaze, so strong when they were inches apart. But Grayson drew away and gave his daughter's back a pat. “See you both later.”

Isaac watched him leave, wondering if there was a promise in the word 'both.'

###### 

Peter loved having the twins over to the apartment for the day, even if his living room turned into a mess of games and coloring utensils. They were especially excited to come over so they could play with Edison, Peter and Deucalion's cat, who was about as tolerant of kids as a feline could be. Edison even let Talia carrying him around with her arms around his upper half and his back feet dangling. As soon as the kids were distracted though, he liked to climb to the top of his tower and just watch them through slitted yellow eyes.

While Peter was making dinner, the kids were sitting at the breakfast bar, whirling on the stools and watching him. He was making spaghetti and meatballs, which was the request of the kids. The sauce he was preparing was from scratch, and it was one of his favorite things to make. It was his mother's recipe, one he'd begged her to teach him from the time he was big enough to use the stove.

After peeling the tomatoes, he cut them up and tipped the cutting board over the pot. A few pieces decided to jump over the side and free fall onto the floor. “Shit,” he said softly, picking them up with a paper towel.

“Uncle Peter said a bad word!” Johnnie said.

Peter straightened, having forgotten the kids were right behind him, and he gave a nervous kind of laugh. “No, I didn't. You're both hallucinating.” He turned to look at them.

They stared, twin expressions of confusion on their adorable faces. “What's hallucinating?” Talia asked, her brows coming together.

Peter dropped the tomato pieces in the trash. “When you see or hear something that isn't there. It means you're crazy.”

Johnnie gasped loudly. “No one can see or hear Talia's best friend, Craig the narwhal!” He said 'narwhal' like 'nar-whale.' He looked at his sister with huge eyes.

“Does that mean I'm crazy?” Talia asked, holding her cheeks with her hands as her eyes bugged out.

“No, sweetheart,” Peter said, reaching across the bar to brush her hair back from her forehead. “That means you have a very active imagination.”

Talia dropped her hands. “What's the difference?”

Peter put his elbows on the bar, not able to respond right away. “Uh.”

“The difference is that you want to have an imaginary friend, Talia,” Deucalion said as he came into the kitchen with Edison draped over his shoulder like a rag. “If you didn't want him around and he was still there, that would mean you are delusional.” Apparently that word was beyond the vocabulary of the kids, because they just blinked at him. “Crazy,” he clarified. “You're both perfectly sane.”

Before the kids could think on that any further, Peter distracted them by letting them help roll the meat, onion, spices and breadcrumbs into balls. Johnnie was trying to make all of his uniform, while Talia made three huge ones and claimed those for herself. 

After they ate dinner, Peter let the kids watch TV until they started droop, then he put them to bed and joined Deucalion on the couch. He collapsed over two-thirds of it, his head on the armrest and his knees against Deucalion's thigh. Edison got up onto his chest, kneading with his small paws. Peter looked out across the mess of his living room, crayons and markers all over the place, as well as the game pieces from Shoots and Ladders in various places. He hoped they didn't step on those.

“Those kids are walking disasters,” he mused as he scratched his purring kitten between the ears.

Deucalion made a noise of assent as his fingers moved across the pages of the book he had in his lap. Peter let himself watch him for a minute, just gazing at the look of passive concentration on his face. His milky white eyes were hooded, and his mouth looked pretty kissable.

Peter lifted a socked foot and nudged his thigh with it for no other reason than he was bored and wanted attention. He wasn't expecting for Deucalion to grab his foot and pull it into his lap, long clever fingers starting to massage the sole. Peter melted into a groan. “That's good. You can do that all night,” he said in a low voice, stretching his arms above his head and letting them hang off of the side of the couch. He closed his eyes, smiling as Edison headbutted his chin. 

He maneuvered his other foot into Deucalion's lap too. If werewolves could purr, he probably would have been doing so right then. He knew the other man's hands were talented. Of that he had _intimate_ knowledge. Now he wanted him to use those hands all over his body, to work the tension and kinks out of his muscles and bones until he was limp and humming with pleasure.

But then he brushed a ticklish spot, and Peter's leg jerked despite himself. He opened his eye to see Deucalion's expression of surprise, before his lips spread into a wolfish grin. His fingers attacked that spot, and Peter let out a squawk of surprise before laughter bubbled out of him. He struggled, trying to get away, and Edison jumped out of the way, running over to his tower to glare at them.

Peter bucked off of the couch and ended up on his back on the floor, and Deucalion followed him down, straddling him and bombarding his sides with dancing fingers. Peter was trying to struggle, but he had lost control of his body in his laughter, twisting back and forth and kicking his legs.

Then Deucalion stopped, and Peter finally got a moment to breath, swallowing gulps of air. He looked up and found Deucalion's ears trained away, and he looked over to find the twins standing near the loveseat. 

“What're you doing?” Johnnie asked as he rubbed at one of his eyes, looking sleepy.

Peter was still breathing hard. “Did we wake you two up?” When they nodded, he tilted his head. “Sorry about that.”

“Why were you laughing?” Talia asked.

“I was tickling him,” Deucalion answered, sitting back on Peter's thighs.

The kids blinked at that, before they looked at each other. Their faces twisted into expression of impish delight, and Peter was suddenly very afraid. 

“You're ticklish, Uncle Peter?” asked Talia, her voice full of intent.

“He is,” Deucalion said, grabbing onto Peter's wrists and pinning them down before he could even think to defend himself.

The kids rushed over, descending on Peter and assaulting him with their little hands. Laughter was ripped out of Peter, and he tried to twist away, but he couldn't. He laughed until his eyes watered. “Not fair!” he cried, kicking his legs. “Mercy! Mercy!”

The twins didn't know what that word meant.

###### 

Even though it had been a long time since he'd been in the city in Southern Arizona where he and his wife had lived, Grayson recognized each main street and landmark. Driving the roads in his rental car, he felt a bit like he was coming home, but it also hurt when he remembered all of the history in this place. When he stopped at a floral shop, he recognized the shop attendant. She didn't seem to recognize him, which was for the better.

Grayson pulled down a gravel and dirt road, parking in a small lot and grabbing the flowers he'd bought. He walked through the iron gates into the cemetery, feeling a kind of peaceful sadness take hold of his heart. After he walked through the rows of graves, he had to smile a little when he came to the one he was looking for.

“Hey, Nattie,” he said, looking at her dark marble gravestone. 

'Natalka Roberts,' it said. 'Loving wife and mother.'

Sighing through his nose, Grayson sat down in front of the stone, folding his legs under him. “It's been a long time since I've been here,” he said, leaning back on his hands and long around. “I'm glad that the cemetery workers have kept everything neat. It must be a bitch to rake this place in the fall.” There were huge trees through the site, with one right next to Natalka's grave.

“Rena's doing well. She's in preschool now, and her teacher raves about her. She's so smart, Nattie. She picks up things so fast. She's even started to pick out small words in her books, which is amazing.” He tilted his head, gazing at the stone. “She's growing so fast. It feels like yesterday when she was born and...” He frowned a little, dropping his eyes. “And you were holding her for the first time.”

“I wish you could have been there to see her crawl, to hear her first words, to see her take her first steps. She was up and running in no time. It was hard to keep up with her. You know she flushed my cellphone down the toilet twice? Too bad the warranty doesn't cover destruction by toddler.” He smiled a little, remembering how he'd scolded her and then promptly folded when she's started to wibble. 

“Rena has a lot of friends. She gets along with everyone really well.” He bit his lip. He'd already decided to let Rena go back to the daycare two or three nights a week. It'd be beneficial for the both of them. Grayson could have the whole day to write, and she could be with her friends. “One little boy—his name is Johnnie—always gives her flowers and pushes her on the swing. She's got him wrapped around her finger already, and she's only four.”

He smiled as he remembered watching them playing, chasing each other around the yard and playing tag. Rena always laughed the loudest when Johnnie was playing with her. They had been instant friends the moment he'd first taken her to the daycare. He was only a year older than she was, and he had taken to being her guide around the daycare. Grayson had even seen them holding hands once.

Suddenly a high, happy laugh filled his mind. 'They're going to be a couple,' Isaac had said, smiling broadly as he casually touched Grayson's arm. 'You might as well accept it now. It's fate.'

That place on Grayson's arm felt warm all of the sudden, and he rubbed it through his jacket. A weight settled on his chest as he thought about Isaac, about his smile, his bright eyes, his precious curly hair, his voice and the way his body felt when it was pressed against Grayson's. He remembered that in those private moments, when they were alone and in the quiet, and Grayson's mind felt at peace.

And he'd gone and fucked it all up.

“I met someone, Nattie,” he said, looking down at his lap. “His name is Isaac. And he's... God, I don't even know how to describe him. I don't know what happened. One moment we barely knew each other, and the next we were teasing each other like we were old friends. Falling into a relationship with him just felt so easy and natural. We were dating, and everything was casual and simple. Then it's months later, and he starts talking about having a family. And—and Rena calls him 'Dad.'” He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “And I panicked.”

He dropped his head back, looking up at the sky. “I honestly don't know why I reacted so strongly. I just felt like—I don't know, that if I committed to a serious relationship, I'd lose the bond I have with you? It sounds so stupid when I say it out loud, and I was a total asshole for treating Isaac the way I did. I have no idea why he held on so long when what we had was so stagnant.” 

“So I broke up with him. Or, more accurately, I ran away from him with my tail between my legs.” There was no other way to describe what he did, fleeing from Isaac and leaving him at the hospital without a ride. He hadn't even realized he'd done that until later, and he'd wanted to slap himself. 

“I can't stop thinking about him though. Sometimes I'll see or read something interesting, and I'll think 'I should tell Isaac,' and then I realize that I don't have the right to call him up out of the blue anymore. I just want to talk to him, to hear his voice. I want to listen to him breathe as he sleeps next to me. I want to see his nose scrunch up and his eyes squint when he laughs so hard that he can't breathe.”

He swallowed, looking back at his wife's gravestone again. He wished that she could honestly tell him that it was okay to move on, that it was okay to let a new someone into his life to fill the chasm she had left behind. He didn't want to dishonor her memory. He didn't want to replace her. But he didn't want to be alone anymore. 

Shifting, Grayson pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket, leaning forward as he opened it. Inside was a small golden band, lined with diamonds. It was such a petite ring, meant for Natalka's small, frail finger. He rubbed his thumb across it, feeling his eyes burn. 

“I miss you, Nattie,” he said, voice soft and choked up. “I miss you a lot.” He took a deep breath as searing tears started to roll in slow paths down his cheeks. “But I miss him more.”

Grayson took hold of the silver band on his finger, pulling it off slowly and sliding it into the slot in the box, right next to its mate. He gazed at the rings for a long moment, pressing his lips together, before he shut the box. He dug a hole in front of the gravestone with his claws and gently laid the ring box inside of it, before he grabbed the flowers he had bought. It was a single planter of bidens, a gold star-shaped flower native to Arizona. Natalka had loved them the most. They were a hardy plant, thriving in both heat and cold, so she hadn't needed to worry about her flower garden of them even when her health prevented her from tending to them. He planted them over the rings, pushing the loose dirt around them.

“I'm going to try to get him back,” Grayson said as he laid his hand on the face of the gravestone. “I don't know if I deserve him. I don't know if he'll want me back. But I know I have to try.” He leaned over the stone, pressing his lips to the cool, smooth surface.

“Goodbye, Nattie.”

###### 

Isaac loved Easter. He loved the smell of spring flowers, the chirping of birds and how bright and vibrant everything was. He also (secretively) loved the post-Easter candy sales. But most of all he loved going to the Stilinski-Hale house and watching the kids hunt for eggs. Pastel colored eggs were spread in a quarter mile radius around the house, and there was always more than enough for the kids.

Isaac was sitting at one of the tables that had been set up outside with Stiles, who was rocking a sleeping Claudia gently back and forth, and watching as Derek and Boyd manned the pair of grills it took to feed everyone. Scott was just kind of lingering nearby, looking like he wanted to help, but he always managed to turn everything to char, so no one let him touch a thing. Eventually Allison grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him over to a chair, putting Tony in his lap to distract him.

Grayson and Rena arrived, and Johnnie peeled out to get to the little girl, grabbing her hand and dragging her over to the swing set. It made Isaac smile to see them, and Grayson caught his eye, giving a little wave, before he went over to offer his services in cooking.

“You okay with Grayson being around?” Stiles asked, shifting Claudia so she was against his shoulder. His eyes shined with concern. “The kids really wanted Rena here, and it didn't feel right inviting her and not her dad.”

“It's fine,” Isaac said, dropping his eyes and picking at the plastic green table cloth. “We're both adults, and we can be near each other without fighting.” Now, at least. “I'm happy for him. I mean, he's doing his writing thing, Rena's coming to the daycare again, and the person I hired when he left is just fine.”

“Just fine?” Stiles echoed.

Isaac flicked his eyes around. “She's always a bit overwhelmed, but she'll adjust.” In truth, she was pretty awful. She tended to panic at the slightest things and couldn't multitask for anything. Once when Isaac had gone to the store, he'd come back to find an ambulance parked outside. It turned out Johnnie and Talia had gotten their claws and fangs out and had a brawl, leaving blood all over. They had healed by the time the ambulance arrived.

When it was time for the egg hunt, Isaac ended up going with Johnnie. Derek had Talia, and she certainly didn't want to share in her hunting, and Stiles stayed back with the baby. “I'm going to get the most eggs!” Johnnie declared as he jogged past the treeline with Isaac following behind him. The little boy dashed back and forth, picking up the plastic eggs and putting them in his Spider-Man basket. At one point he stopped, opening one of the eggs and wrinkling his nose. “Here,” he said extended it to Isaac. “I don't like these.” The egg was full of jelly beans.

Blasphemy. Isaac took the egg, popping a bean in his mouth and continuing to walk after Johnnie. He glanced backward, trying to judge how far they'd come. He guessed when they stopped finding eggs, he'd know it was time to turn back.

“How many mommy bunnies you think made these eggs?” Johnnie asked as he kicked some leaves aside and found a green egg.

“Sorry, what?” Isaac asked.

“I saw bunnies making eggs on the TV,” Johnnie said, turning big innocent up at him.

Oh, the Cadbury rabbit. “The Easter Bunny is in charge of the eggs, but he borrows them from chickens. Then he hides them for you to find. Bunnies don't really lay eggs.”

Johnnie blinked, looking like his world had been changed. “Oh.” Then he hurried off again after some more eggs.

By the time Isaac and Johnnie turned around, the little boy's basket was filled to the brim, and his mouth was stained with chocolate. He held his bounty against his chest, looking satisfied. They ran into Grayson and Rena as they stepped out of the trees, and Johnnie hurried over to her. 

“Looky, looky!” he said, holding out his basket to show her. “I gots a bunch!”

“Me too!” Rena said, holding her pink and purple basket up.

Johnnie looked at his eggs, looked at her and back again. “Trade you my pink ones for your blue ones?”

“Deal!” Rena said, grabbing his hand and running toward the kiddy tables.

That left Grayson and Isaac alone. Isaac gave him a polite smile and was about to turn away, but Grayson held out a hand, as if to touch him, but he stopped a few inches away. “Can I talk to you?” he asked, tilting his head toward the trees.

Isaac looked in the direction of everyone else, before he nodded and moved toward the treeline. He leaned against a tree, giving Grayson an expectant expression. It had been two months since they'd broken up, and Isaac had stopped feeling mad weeks ago. He was glad that Rena was back in his life at least, though he had taken to encouraging her to use his name instead of calling him 'Daddy.'

“I fucked up,” Grayson finally said, and Isaac blinked at him in surprise. Grayson swallowed, going forward. “Everything that you and I had, I messed it up. It was great, and I was happy, but I sabotaged it by being stupid.” He chewed at his lip, and Isaac couldn't help but lean forward a bit. “I'm sorry I treated you that way. I was an asshole.” He looked down, going silent.

Isaac watched him for a couple moments. “If you're looking for me to disagree with you, you're going to be disappointed,” he said with a bit of a laugh, a smile curving his lips.

Grayson smiled back, snorting. “I miss you,” he said, shuffling back and forth on his feet. “Rena misses you. Apparently you're better at reading to her than I am.” He tilted his head a little, looking at Isaac's eyes. “I know I don't have the right, but I want you back. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you.”

Isaac stared at him, pushing down the urge to leap into his arms. “Don't tell me that unless you mean it,” he said as firmly as he could. He couldn't do a repeat of what they'd put each other through. He didn't know if he could physically handle it again.

Grayson ran his tongue through his lips, before he took a step forward. Slowly, as if not to spook Isaac, he reached forward and took his hand, lifting it to gently kiss his knuckles. It was right then that Isaac noticed the lack of a ring on his finger, and his eyes widened. He'd gotten so used to that silver band. To see nothing but a tan line now was startling.

He turned his hand, taking hold of his fingers and running his thumb over the smooth skin where the ring had been. He stared for a long time, as if he was expecting this to be a trick or a mirage, and he turned his eyes to Grayson, so many questions written all over his face.

“I'll always love her,” Grayson said, his smile turning a little said. “But she's gone. And I need to move on.”

“I never wanted to replace her. You know that, right?” Isaac said, moving to lace his fingers with Grayson's and give his hand a squeeze.

“I know,” Grayson said, stepping close enough that Isaac could feel the heat of his body. He gazed at their joined hands for a long moment, before his smile changed to something lighter, happier. “Should I make a rebirth joke?”

“Hm?” Isaac said, distracted by the comfortable and familiar feeling of Grayson's hand against his. 

“Since it's Easter?”

Isaac rolled his eyes, happy to hear Grayson's silliness again. His life had been poorer without it. “Not when I'm considering taking you back.”

“Considering?” Grayson scoffed, still grinning.

“There is a probationary period of one week,” Isaac informed him with a curt nod.

Grayson moved closer, pressing their bodies together. “Then we should spend a week in bed.”

Isaac's lips twitched, but in the end he failed to keep the huge smile off of his face. “Yes, play to your strengths.”

Grayson grin was brilliant. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, eyes dropping to Isaac's lips.

“Didn't I tell you that you don't have to ask?” Isaac slid his hands up to Grayson's shoulders.

Shrugging, Grayson put their foreheads together. “I thought I voided our original agreement.”

“Idiot.” Isaac tilted his head up and connected their lips.

Warmth bloomed through Isaac's chest, melting the ice that had taken hold of his heart the moment Grayson walked out of his life. This felt good. This felt right. He didn't know where they would go from here, but he was optimistic. He still wanted to have a family, to get married and to have a baby. He knew Rena would make a great big sister. They would have to talk about all of those things, but at least now he knew Grayson would be open to discussion. 

Cheering reached his ears, and he turned to look at everyone else, his face starting to burn as he saw how happy they were. “It's about damn time!” Jackson called out, and Lydia smacked his arm with the hand not holding Ainsley for the curse. Isaac hid his face in Grayson's shoulder, giddy giggles pouring out of him.

###### 

Occasionally, Stiles got some work done when the twins were home. He was in the study, tapping away on his computer as Claudia rocked gently back and forth in her baby swing next to him. She was dozing, letting out little kitten snores as her fingers twitched. She must have been dreaming about whatever babies dreamed about. 

Derek was at his own desk, shuffling through papers. His company had only just won a lawsuit against the materials company that used to provide lumber and other such things for building. Derek had noticed a discrepancy in the numbers of wood and marble long before Claudia was born, and it had taken him months to find the source of the shortage. After Derek had gone through questioning his employees and following the trail, he had figured out that the materials company was just skimming off the top. But everything was good now. Derek had a new supplier, and his old one had gone under. He was infinitely more relaxed now and able to stay home a couple days a week with the baby like he had originally promised.

The twins had been playing in the living room since breakfast, but out of the corner Stiles spotted Johnnie peeking around the door frame, and he glanced over just in time to see his son disappear again. He went back to his work, but he gave the door a sideline look. Johnnie appeared again, and Stiles straightened, looking over as the little boy vanished again.

They played this came for a little bit until Stiles stopped looking over, knowing that his son would come to him in time. Sure enough, Johnnie came rushing in and jumped up and down next to Stiles. “Papa! Papa! Papa!”

Stiles couldn't keep the smile off his face even as he kept his eyes on the computer, as if he was only absently interested. “Whata? Whata? Whata?” 

Derek snorted from his desk.

“Me and Talia's birthday is soon!” Johnnie said, pressing close.

Stiles looked at him, noticing the other twin lingering at the door. “Is that true, Talia?”

“Yeah!” Talia said in agreement, nodding and coming into the room and glue herself to Johnnie's side. “Two weeks and three days!” She held up her hands, putting up two fingers on one hand, but then she seemed to get a bit confused and abandoned the gesture all together.

“How old will you both be?” Stiles asked lightly.

“Six!” they announced proudly, both holding up corresponding fingers.

“Six!” Stiles gasped, putting his hand over his heart in mock surprise. “What a monumental occasion!” He looked to Derek, who was watching them over his shoulder. “Daddy, what should we do?”

Derek let out a long hum as he turned his swivel chair toward them. “We should do a lot of things.”

“Like?!” Talia demanded, going to stand between Derek's legs and put her chin on his front, staring up at him with huge eyes.

“We could go to the movies,” Derek suggested, petting her hair. 

“Boo!” Johnnie whined, face screwing up in displeasure.

Talia's expression was similar. “That's boring, Daddy.”

“We could go out to eat,” Stiles offered, smiling a bit more when his kids both groaned.

“Still boring!” Talia sobbed, drooping over Derek's knee.

“You guys aren't trying hard enough,” Johnnie told them, crossing his arms and looking two seconds away from plopping down on his butt in frustration.

Stiles and Derek looked at each other for a long moment, before Derek's lips spread into a smile. “Or,” he said, and the kids looked at him.

“Oooor?” Stiles prompted.

“We could go to Disneyland.”

There were a thick moment of silence, where Talia and Johnnie's eyes widened impossibly, before they both let forth loud squeals. “Disneyland! Disneyland! Disneyland!” they chanted, grabbing each other's hands and jumping up and down in a circle.

Claudia let out an unhappy noise at being woken up, rubbing at her eyes.

The twins were too happy to care, so excited that they exploded into fur and started to run around the house as little wolves with clothes on. Derek tried to get them to calm down, since there was a rule about no shifting in the house. Stiles barely kept his giggles contained as he tended to that baby.

Little did the kids know, Derek and Stiles had been planning to take the kids to the theme park ever since they were born. Now that they were finally old enough to properly enjoy it, they had bought tickets for a three day trip, not including plane rides. It would be their first real family vacation, and the twins that the advantage of it being their birthday, so that meant they would be showered with gifts.

Yeah, Disneyland was going to be a fun trip.

###### 

Stiles had an idea in mind when he and Derek decided to bring Claudia along on the trip as opposed to leaving her with Isaac. That idea was that she was their perfect little angel, so she wasn't going to wail at the top of her lungs on the plane like babies in movies did. 

Wrong.

Claudia was red-faced with her screaming, her eyes clenched shut tight with big tears leaking out of the sides of them. Her little fists were curled tight, shaking, and her little knuckles white. When Stiles tried to give her her binkie, she _bit right through it_ with the three little teeth she had.

“It's okay, it's okay, sweetie,” Stiles kept telling her, bouncing her gently in his arms. “I promise your ears are just popping. It's perfectly normal. Your head's not going to explode.” He kind of whimpered when Claudia just shrieked in response.

The mood around the cabin had dropped considerably when Claudia started her tantrum, a few people mumbling about how Stiles and his family were _those people_ that brought screaming babies onto planes and into movie theatres. He heard one man grumble about how they shouldn't have had a baby if they couldn't control her—the man called her an 'it' and that was just plain fucking rude. If he had said that to his face, Stiles would have calmly handed Claudia over to Derek before getting out his claws and fangs, because that was the mood he was in. He would have worried about the bad example it set for the twins afterward. That, and the murder charges.

Derek was cupping the back of Claudia's head with his hand, murmuring gently to her with a distressed expression all over his handsome face. On the other side of him, Talia was looking around his arm to stare at her little sister, her hands cupped over her ears. Johnnie was on his knees in his seat, looking over them both with his fingers in his own ears. 

No matter what Stiles tried, Claudia was inconsolable, and he was honestly wondering when the poor baby was just going to tire herself out. He had her against his shoulder, rubbing her back, and his ears were really starting to ring. He looked at Derek, who was rubbing his temples with his fingertips. “You wanna try?” Stiles asked helplessly.

“Yeah,” Derek said, tired sounding, as he held his arms out for her. When Stiles handed her over, he shrieking hit an extra high note that made him wince. “Please stop crying,” Derek implored her, running his broad hand up and down her back. She kicked one leg against his bicep.

“Someone make that fucking thing shut up!” some asshole called from the back of the plane.

Talia stood up in her seat, whipping around in that direction. “You shut up, you poophead!” she barked back at the offending person.

Johnnie joined her. “Yeah!” he called.

“Kids, sit down,” Stiles told them, and they gave him dual looks of betrayal before they minded him. “You know you're not supposed to call people names.” He glanced back over the top of his seat, trying to catch sight of the dick that insulted his child. “Even if they are total poopheads.” That made Talia and Johnnie grin.

Talia scooted closer to Derek and Claudia, looking down at the wailing baby. “Hey, Claudia,” she said, but Claudia had her eyes clenched shut tight. “Little sis, little sis.” Finally the baby cracked her eye open, and when she did Talia's eyes flashed bright gold.

Immediately Claudia stopped crying, both of her eyes going wide and her mouth forming a little 'o'. Talia grinned down at her, before she flashed her eyes again. This time Claudia let out a little squeal of laughter, putting her hands up. Talia leaned down so Claudia could paw at her face.

Derek and Stiles wore matching flabbergasted looks. “Talia, where did you learn to do that?” Derek asked softly, his voice hardly above a whisper as if he were afraid raising his voice would make Claudia start crying again.

“Isaac does it,” Talia said, not even wincing when Claudia took a handful of her brown hair and tugged. “When babies cry at the daycare.” She shifted to the side as Johnnie leaned over her back, smiling down at the smiling baby.

“Hey, baby sis!” Johnnie said to her, before he puffed out his cheeks and crossed his eyes before they flashed gold too. Claudia burbled in delight, before her green eyes lit up in return as she reached up to grab his nose.

Derek and Stiles both leaned back, glancing at each other and smiling in relief. Stiles wished he could text Isaac and call him a lifesaver, but it would have to wait for when they were on the ground. Right then he was just so happy and proud of his kids for being so smart, as well as wanting to care for their little sister. The rest of the flight passed with relative quiet as they all took turns shining their wolf eyes and making faces at the happy little baby.

###### 

The plan was straightforward and simple. They worked it out in the hotel after the twins had stopped bouncing off the walls and went to sleep. When they got to the park, they were going to take the little train around to hit two sites a day. First they would go to New Orleans Square and Adventureland. Next was Critter Country and Frontierland. After that they were bound for Mickey's Toontown and Fantasyland. And on the last day they would go to Tomorrowland and Main Street USA. That left the souvenir shops, which were on Main Street, for last, because down that way lie _ruin_.

It was a good plan. It was. Too bad it got immediately derailed.

They were heading toward the rail station when Talia looked toward the entrance of Main Street, and her face lit up like a star. “Jasmine and Aladdin!” she squealed, before she took off running, and Johnnie followed her immediately.

Stiles mumbled something about best laid plans, and Derek chuckled next to him, before they both moved to follow their kids. Stiles had Claudia in a baby sling against his chest, all swaddled in a cozy blanket and a warm beanie on her head. She was sleeping for now, but she wouldn't be for long. That was what the diaper bag with baby toys and bottles over Derek's shoulder was for.

Main Street was decked out in Halloween decorations since it was October. There were carved pumpkins all over the place, including large plastic ones with wild grins. Laughing animatronic skeletons danced at the entrance, sweeping their hats and spinning their canes to eerie yet cheerful music. Strings of orange lights crisscrossed from the tops of the buildings down the street. They weren't lit, because it was day, but they were probably something to behold when the sun set.

Talia and Johnnie were crowded with a group of three other kids—in which Johnnie was the only boy—around two people dressed as Jasmine and Aladdin. Talia was chatting happily with Jasmine, who was smiling at her. As Stiles and Derek approached, standing apart with the other parents, they could hear was she was saying.

“I've seen your movie a billion times!” she said proudly.

“That's a lot!” Aladdin said, crouching down to be eye level with her. 

“She knows all the songs,” Johnnie said, like he was so proud of his sister's memorization abilities. 

“Are you two brother and sister?” Jasmine asked.

“We're twins!” Talia chirped, before she hugged Johnnie's head. “I'm older by two whole minutes.”

“I bet you're a good big sister,” Jasmine told her with a smile.

“Yeah, I am!” Talia agreed, before she looked at her brother, still squished in her arms. “I am, right?”

Johnnie's eyes flicked around. “If I say yes, will you let me go?”

The next place the twins went dashing to was a souvenir shop. It was full of clothes and had a long wall of stuffed animals, hundreds of them. Stiles knew the moment that the kids ran over to look at that wall that they were going to leave the shop hundreds of dollars poorer. Then he saw the baby clothes. “Oh my goodness,” he said, gravitating toward them.

“Oh no,” was Derek's opinion.

“Look at this!” Stiles said, picking up a baby shirt with Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas on it. He showed Claudia the front of it. “What do you think, sweetie?” She thought what all babies thought, which was 'I don't care, let me sleep.' She closed her eyes and snuffled.

Stiles wanted all of the baby clothes, and he was picking them out in Claudia's size. Derek stood next to him helplessly, letting Stiles pile shirts and onesies into his arms, looking over his shoulder every now and then to check on Talia and Johnnie. Then Stiles found the cutest thing in the freaking world and let out a tiny squeal, lifting it up. “Derek, oh my God.”

Derek looked at it. “No.”

“Oh, c'mon! It's adorable!”

“If you make the joke, I swear, Stiles.”

“What? You don't think she'd be the cutest—“

“Don't.”

“—Wolf in sheep's clothing?” Stiles grinned as Derek looked pained, but he was getting this. It was baby pajamas of woolen white, complete with a fluffy round tail and white and pink ears. Claudia was going to look so cute in it. He hoped she was wearing it the first time she shifted.

Talia and Johnnie came rushing over, each holding about four toys a piece and jumping up and down as they begged “Can we get theses?” and “Please! Please!” After looking at them, Derek dropped his head back and groaned, so Stiles turned to regard them.

“Do you really want to carry those around the park?” he asked, and they stopped jumping to think about it. “Your arms will get tired. And you can't take a bunch of toys on rides, you know.” 

Talia and Johnnie looked at each other, before Johnnie turned his eyes up and in the most emphatic way possible said, “But we _want_ them.”

Stiles shook his head. “You can't have all of them.”

“But—But it's our birthdaaaay!” Talia whined desperately.

“How about you guys can have one now,” Derek started, and the kids looked at him. “And then on our last day here, we can come back and you can get another one, How does that sound?”

Talia huffed out an enraged sound. “But that's only two!” She hugged her stuffed toys closer, protective.

Stiles sighed. “Well, since it _is_ your birthday, how about if you two are on your best behavior, you can get all of them?”

The kids looked at each other again, having a silent conversation that only twins could accomplish. Finally they nodded, and Johnnie looked up. “Our very bestest behavior?”

“That's right. That means no whining,” Stiles said.

“And no running off,” Derek finished for him.

“Deal!” the kids said, before they looked down at their toys like they had no idea what to choose first. 

Talia ended up choosing Meeko, the raccoon from Pocahontas. He was holding a round biscuit in one hand and a doggy bone in the other. Johnnie picked a super soft Eeyore, complete with a detachable Velcro tail that was connected by a white ribbon so it wouldn't be lost.

Then it was time to hit the actual parks. First they went to Adventureland, and the kids had a blast playing around in Tarzan's Tree House. There was a zipline that the kid got harnessed to before riding down four stories. Talia looked wobbly upon landing, but Johnnie went twice more, apparently a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

After that they went to Frontierland. The kids were bored to death on the riverboat, but Derek and Stiles happily enjoyed the slowly trek around the river, leaning back in their chairs and holding hands. Stiles only had to yell at Johnnie not to climb the railing once. Derek offered to hold Claudia so Stiles could go with the twins onto the Pirate's Lair roller coaster. Then they went to Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue, where they all ate their weight in all-you-can-eat barbeque chicken and brisket.

There was a shooting range, where the kids got to hold pellet guns for the first time. Talia even held a bow, and she almost hit the target, which was impressive for a six-year-old that could barely see over the attraction's counter. Derek held the baby again for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, another roller coaster, saying his stomach was too full for the ups and downs. Stiles agreed when he got off the thing and almost threw up.

New Orleans Square was next, which meant they got to ride the family friendly Pirates of the Caribbean. Talia and Johnnie hadn't seen the movies yet, but Stiles might have wigged out a little at each and every Captain Jack Sparrow animatronic appearance. The kids didn't freak out at the zombies, so Stiles and Derek decided they were okay to go into the Haunted Mansion. Johnnie squealed at one jump scare, where a ghost came out of a closet, but Talia put herself between it and her brother, growling and batting at it.

Connected to the Haunted Mansion was the Tower of Terror. The kids were just tall enough to go on it, and they begged with many a 'please, please!' so Stiles and Derek relented, knowing it was perfectly safe. “I'll take Claudia again,” Derek said, holding his arms out for her.

“That's okay, babe, I went on the last two rides. You can take this one,” Stiles told him with a smile. 

But Derek just pressed on. “No, hand her over. I want you to enjoy the park too.” He still had his arms out.

Stiles stared at him, before he narrowed his eyes and gave him a side eye. “Derek,” he said slowly. “Are you afraid of roller coasters?” To that, Derek's cheeks little just a touch darker, and he slid his eyes away, crossing his arms. “You are! No wonder you never wanted to go to the traveling carnivals with us. You always said you were busy!”

“I was busy,” Derek said evenly.

“Liar.”

“Are we going or not?” Talia called from the entrance of the Tower.

Derek gave Stiles a slightly desperate look, but Stiles just smiled at him, nodding his head toward their kids. Heaving a sigh, Derek walked over to them and let them lead him by the hands into the ride. He sent one last look over his shoulder, his eyebrows bowed, and Stiles had a moment to regret making his mate do something like this before he was gone.

He still bought a copy of the picture that was taken of the group while they were falling those two hundred feet. The kids had their arms over their heads, cheering and screaming. Derek, bless him, had his hands over his eyes, his lips pressed in a line.

“I'm sorry,” Stiles told his traumatized mate as they walked to the next attraction. “You don't have to do that again. I'll go on all the rides with the kids.”

Derek put his face against his shoulder and huffed out a “Thank you.”

“I'm still making twenty copies of this and giving them to all our friends though,” Stiles informed him with a cheeky smile.

“Of course you are.”

After a bit longer it was time to go back to the hotel for the night. The twins were watching TV in their pajamas, devouring the pizza they'd ordered, and Stiles and Derek were leaning together on their bed, observing their kids. Claudia was passed out on Derek's broad chest, her fingers curled in his shirt. 

“Can you believe they're six years old already?” Stiles asked his husband softly, watching Talia put her arm around her brother's shoulders as Johnnie leaned into her. “It feels like only yesterday that they were this little one's size.” He pressed a kiss to Claudia's cheek.

“Soon they'll be teenagers,” Derek said, running his fingers lightly through their daughters light brown hair. “They'll be going on dates and asking us to borrow the cars. Then they'll be graduating high school and going to college.”

“Please shut up,” Stiles choked out, looking at his babies, his little babies that weren't going to be little forever. They were going to leave like birds from a nest. They were going to grow up, and then they wouldn't need him anymore.

“Hey,” Derek said, looking over and maneuvering his arm around Stiles. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just—“

“I know,” Stiles said, putting his face in Derek's shoulder. “I don't want them to grow up.”

“Papa?” Johnnie asked, and Stiles looked up to see them looking at him, curious and confused. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing, kiddo, I'm just—I'm okay. Go back to your movie.” Stiles wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

The twins stared a little longer, then in unison hopped down off their bed and came around to climb up onto the one their parents and little sister were on. They piled on top of Stiles, hugging him tight. “Don't be sad, Papa,” Talia said into his chest.

“Yeah, don't be sad.” Johnnie squeezed him.

“I'm not sad. I just love you guys so much.” Stiles held them tight, nuzzling both their heads and scenting them. He could feel Derek's arm tighten around his back.

“Love you too, Papa,” the kids said in unison, and Stiles tried not to cry too much.

The next day, they took the Disneyland Railroad to Critter County, where they went to the Honey Bear restaurant for a breakfast of waffles and root beer floats. Then Derek held Claudia as Stiles and the twins went on the most iconic of rides in the whole park: Splash Mountain. Thankfully they didn't get too wet, just barely splashed on. Derek laughed because there was a dark spot on the seat of Stiles's pants.

They caught the train to Mickey's Toontown, where the twins had a bit of an argument on where to go first.

“Goofy's Playhouse!” Talia insisted, frowning at him. They had been going back and forth for a full minute now.

“Donald's Boat!” Johnnie countered, crossing his arms.

Derek put his hands on the kids' heads as they growled at each other, bonking their foreheads together lightly. “Remember you two promised to be on your best behavior,” he said as they rubbed their foreheads. “Now agree one where to go or you don't get gifts later.”

The kids looked horrified, like that was the absolute worst thing on the face of the earth. They had left their toys at the hotel for the day, but they had held onto them like they were treasures the previous day. Johnnie looked at Talia, before he took a breath and hold up one small fist. She looked at said before, before she held up her own. “Rock, paper, scissors,” they said in unison as they shook their fists. 

When Talia threw scissors and Johnnie put up paper, she smiled and fake cut at his hand with her fingers, before she called out, “Whoohoo! Goofy's Playhouse!”

Johnnie pouted a little as he watched her jog off with Derek following after her. “Well, that was demo—dem...” He looked up at Stiles for help. 

“Democratic?” Stiles offered with a smile, and when Johnnie nodded he ruffled his little boy's hair.

After the Playhouse, they went on Donald's Boat, and then after Stiles went with the kids on Gadget's Go Coaster. They saw a Mickey and Minnie walking around, and they got pictures of them with the twins. There was one other ride, the Spinning Teacups, and Stiles did actually throw up after that one because Talia spun the cup painfully faster with her monstrous strength.

The last park they went to that day was the biggest: Fantasyland. Pinocchio's Daring Journey was really cute. They even got to walk through a life-sized whale. Snow White's Scary Adventures were indeed kind of scary. Talia's screech at the witch's laugh caused Johnnie to hug her. Sleeping Beauty's castle was fantastic, even if the kids got bored partway through. Johnnie pretended to prick his finger on the spinning wheel, and Talia laughed riotously as he flopped on the floor.

Stiles didn't have to go on the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride with the kids, so he got to take pictures as the whizzed by. There was actual cake at the Mad Tea Party, and the attendant cut extra big pieces for the twins when she learned that it was their birthday. High on sugar now, the kids were especially giggling as they ran through the mushroom forest in Wonderland.

Everyone agreed that the It's A Small World ride was the most awful thing in existence.

After another night at the hotel, they started on their last day at Disneyland. Derek was a bit like a little kid at Tomorrowland, so very obviously geeking out about the architecture and failing to hide it. First they went on the Finding Nemo submarine voyage, and it was pretty awesome to see all those different kind of fish. They twins had their noses pressed against the glass the whole time. Even Claudia watched the bigger of the marine life swim on by.

The kids got a bit lost partway through the Innovations presentation, but Stiles was definitely interested in the section given by Microsoft and Xbox. The kids were just tall enough for Space Mountain, and Derek overcame his fear to go with them. Afterward he was all smiles, so he apparently enjoyed that far more than a free fall. He went with the kids on the Star Tours ride as Stiles sat just outside it on the bench, preparing Claudia's bottle.

“Oh, she's so cute,” said a lady with a stroller. She had a nice smile.

“Thanks,” Stiles said as Claudia suckled greedily at she bottle.

“Can I sit with you? My husband and teenager are on the ride. I'm so abandoned.”

Stiles laughed. “Go ahead. My twins and husband are on the ride too.” The woman sat and started to fuss with her baby, a little girl in a purple and yellow dress. She looked to be about three or four months. “Yours is so cute too. What's her name?”

“Mandy,” the woman said, pulling her baby into her arms and patting her butt, probably checking her diaper. Satisfied that she didn't need to change her, she turned her to sit in her lap. “How about yours?”

“Claudia. This is her first family vacation.” He looked down as his baby let out a little burp.

“Same. I told my husband I wanted to wait until she was older, but he had already told our daughter that we could go, and you do not deny a thirteen-year-old.” She shook her head as if her husband was just hopeless. “How old are your twins?”

“They turned six day before yesterday. This trip is their present.” He put the empty bottle in the diaper bag. 

“They grow up so fast, don't they?” the woman asked a little sadly, as if she just knew that Stiles had been thinking that the other night. He guessed it was something all parents experienced. Then her husband and other daughter came by. “Nice talking to you,” she called as she walked off with her family. 

“Papa! Papa!” Johnnie called as he came running up. “It was amazing! There was this big room with the whole universe in it, and you could reach out and touch the stars and planets, but your hand went right through them and it was so cool!”

“Sounds like it, buddy,” Stiles told him as he gathered up the diaper bag.

“I stood in Jupiter!” Talia announced proudly.

“It was bigger than she was,” Derek added.

Stiles pouted dramatically. “Now I wish I'd gone too. Oh well, next time.”

“Next time?” the kids gasped, crowding his legs and looking up at him with comically wide eyes. 

“Oh yeah, we're definitely coming back, kiddos.” He looked at Derek. “Right, Daddy?”

“Right,” Derek agreed easily.

It was time to go back to Main Street. The sun was setting and darkness was falling across the park, so the pumpkins and hanging lights were lighting up down the street. They got to take a ride on the adorable Horseless Carriage, and the tour guide told them all about the shops and eateries. They hopped off in front of the shop they'd been to the first day.

Stiles complained when Derek grabbed his shirt tail and stopped him from going over to the baby clothes. “But there might be some I missed!” he insisted, but Derek was immovable. In retaliation, Stiles grabbed a Goofy hat and plopped it on his husband's head, snapping a picture of his startled expression before he recovered enough to take it off. That was going on the wall.

The kids found all the toys they'd had that first day and more. Stiles's personal favorite was the Maleficent dragon that Talia picked out. She had all the dragons, continuing her trend as khaleesi. Johnnie had the whole Winnie the Pooh gang in his arms somehow, minus Eeyore who he'd already gotten. Derek and Stiles didn't even bother trying to limit them. They had been good like they'd promised, and they only turned six once. So they got everything they wanted.

After that they had pizza and went to catch their 9pm flight back to Northern California. This time Claudia was a perfect angel.

###### 

It was funny how that morning's weather forecast hadn't mentioned a monsoon. Isaac was soaked to the bone because he didn't have an umbrella, and it was September so he was freezing. He was lucky he was a wolf, otherwise he'd probably be, oh, dead. He was sad he didn't have Grayson to share this lovely Sunday torrential downpour with, but that man had stayed home that day with Rena to get some writing done while Isaac minded the daycare. 

He rode the elevator up to Grayson's floor in the apartment building, unable to bring himself to care that he was dripping all over the place and that the next person that would slip and fall. He just wanted to get to the apartment and take a long hot bath. He pulled his keys out of his pocket as he walked down the hall, droplets of water falling from his curls. He opened the door and stopped, eyes widening.

There was a patchwork blanket on the ground with two wine glasses, a basket and a bottle of wine. Grayson came out of the kitchen holding steaming plates, and he halted when he saw Isaac. “Oh, uh, hey,” he said, before he set the plates of spaghetti it looked like on the coffee table and moved over to Isaac. “You're soaked,” he said, touching his hair.

“No umbrella,” Isaac said, still looking at the blanket. “What's this?”

“A picnic. I'm trying to woo you,” Grayson told him, pulling gently at his sweater hem.

“You don't need to woo me,” Isaac told him, a smile spreading his lips now. It was just too sweet.

“Yes, I do. How about you go get changed, huh? Before the food gets cold.” He nudged him gently toward the bedroom.

“Where's Rena?” Isaac asked, turning and walking backwards toward it.

“Down for a nap. Go on.” He shooed him. 

Isaac shed his soaked clothes and towel dried his hair, already feeling warmer as he pulled on some sweats and a sleep shirt. Grayson was pouring the wine as he came out, and he handed him a glass when he got close enough. “So what's the occasion?” Isaac asked as he sat down and took a sip of the wine, before he let out a noise of appreciation. It wasn't the cheap kind.

“We haven't gone on a proper date since we got back together,” Grayson said, folding his long legs and pulling his pasta into his lap. He was wearing the blue socks with the Cookie Monster heads on them. Rena had picked those out for his birthday months ago.

“We've been busy,” Isaac said, lifting his own plate. 

“I know, but still,” Grayson said with a shrug. “I feel kind of like an ass for it.”

“We've been together almost everyday. I only ever go home to sleep, and that's rarely.” Honestly, he practically lived with Grayson and Rena. They had a morning routine. One of them would start on breakfast while the other went to wake up Rena. They brushed their teeth together. They shaved together. And they almost always took the same car to work.

“Yeah, I've been thinking about that,” Grayson said as he twirled his fork in his spaghetti noodles. “How would... Um...” He ducked his head, having trouble with his words, which was unusual. He was normally so articulate. 

“Um?” Isaac pressed gently.

“How would you like to move in?” Grayson managed, his eyes a little wide.

Isaac stared back, his plate drooping a little on one side. He quickly set it down for fear of dropping it and crawled to the other side of the blanket. He took Grayson's plate too, setting it to the side and lifting onto his knees to straddle his lap. “Grayson Roberts,” he said very seriously, taking him by the cheeks and gazing into his eyes. “You had better not be kidding.”

“I'm not,” Grayson said, looking worried as he rested his hands on Isaac's hip. “I want you here. Always.”

A soft smile gracing his lips, Isaac leaned in to kiss him. “Then okay. Let's do it.”

Grayson leaned up into the kiss, before he let out a shuddering sigh. “You sure?”

“If you're sure,” Isaac told him, settling down in his lap. 

“I'm sure. One hundred percent sureness right here,” Grayson said immediately, wrapping his arms around him. 

“Then I'm sure.” Isaac's smiled widened as Grayson's head dropped against his shoulder in relief. He glanced around accessing the living room and trying to picture his things taking up space too. This would be theirs, not just a place that Isaac visited all the time. “It's going to be cluttered.”

“It's going to be perfect,” Grayson corrected.

They kissed and kept kissing, and their food got cold, but they ate it anyway. After Grayson took the dishes to the kitchen, Isaac finished off his second glass of wine. When Grayson sat back down, Isaac turned and put his head in his lap, feeling warm and happy to have his hair played with.

Grayson pulled grapes and strawberries out of the wicker basket, feeding them to Isaac one by one. Isaac caught his fingers between his lips, caressing them and gently flicking his tongue over them. He was about to suggest they pop into the bedroom quickly, but then Rena came out of her room, dragging her stuffed bear and rubbing her eye.

“Hey, princess,” Isaac said, sitting up and Rena came over to him, falling into his lap and snuffling against his shirt. “You sleep okay?”

“Uh huh,” she said, her eyes closed like she was going to go back to sleep right there. 

Isaac smiled down at her, before he looked to Grayson, who was just smiling at the sight of them. He couldn't help but wrap his arms around her and give her a little squeeze. “Hey, Rena, guess what?”

She just opened one eye to peek at him.

“I'm going to be living here with your and your dad soon.” 

She opened her other eye. “I thought you already did live here,” she said, sounding confused.

Grayson snorted as Isaac let out a little laugh. “No, princess, but I'm going to start.”

“Oh. Good.” She buried her face in his shirt again.

Isaac looked over at Grayson, happy that everyone was in agreement that him moving in was a good thing.

###### 

It was the night of the run, and Derek had already made his rounds, greeting everyone. Most of them commented how he looked odd without the baby sling around his shoulders, but that night he had managed to get Stiles to wear it so Claudia could join them. He wanted to be able to actually run freely through the forest, not worry about jostling a baby like he had been for the last nine months. Really, he didn't know how Stiles wiggled out of their agreement that they were going to switch off.

He noticed something amiss as he was heading back to his family after greeting Grayson—who had Rena on a baby leash—and Isaac. “Where's Johnnie?” he asked Stiles, who was nosing their baby girl, and tilted his head.

Stiles looked at him, before he glanced around. “I don't know. He was just here a minute ago.” He turned his attention to Talia, who was chased a moth in circles. “Talia, where's your brother?”

“He saw a bunny!” Talia said, snapping at the moth and missing. “He went to get it.”

With a sigh, Derek put his nose to the air. “I'll find him. He can't have gone far.” He caught his son's scent and headed off after him, ready to scold him for leaving the clearing where everyone else was gathered. Johnnie knew the rules. He wasn't supposed to leave the group without an escort.

He moved out into the forest, sniffing the ground and jogging along the path of the scent. His son must have been running full speed to leave such a scattered trail. The path took him deeper into the preserve then turned back toward the town. Derek's pace picked up, loping over a fallen tree, and he sped in the direction Johnnie had gone.

He caught a flash of him, a brown blur in the darkness, and went right for him, planning a thorough rebuke for this. There might even be some grounding. He could see the white ball of fluff Johnnie was chasing, knowing his son wouldn't have any idea what to do if he did catch up with it. He had Stiles had yet to teach them how to properly hunt.

The trees parted in the distance, and Derek pushed himself harder, letting out a sharp yap to try to get his son's attention. That was a road, and even he could see the lights of a car broken through the trees. But Johnnie ran right onto the road without a care, skidding to a halt when he saw the headlights. The boy ducked down against the road, ears going back and eyes widening in terror.

Derek burst out across the road as the car's horn blared, nabbing Johnnie by his scruff and jerking him to the other side of the road, where they both rolled down a short incline. He had just barely felt the car's bumper brush the hair of his tail.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Derek snarled at his son, standing over him with his lips pulled back in a snarl. “Are you out of your mind?! You know the rules! Never leave the group, and never, ever go in the road!” He could feel himself trembling, a mix of adrenaline and relief.

Johnnie was making himself as small as possible, pressed against the leaves on the ground with his paws over his face. “I'm sorry, Daddy, I'm sorry!”

Derek took a deep breath through his nose, sitting down and just looking at his son for a moment. He was shaking terribly, terrified. Derek dropped his head and nosed him behind the ear. “You scared me. I thought for a moment that I was going to lose you. Don't do it again, okay?”

Johnnie lifted his head, before he shuffled close so he could more or less bury himself against Derek's body. “I promise.”

Letting out a breath through his nose, Derek laid his paw over his son. “Let's go back to the group,” he told him, and Johnnie looked up. “Just know that you are very grounded.” To that, Johnnie only nodded, pushing himself up off the ground.

He moved back up the incline, looking both ways before crossing the road again. Stiles was going to flip out when he heard about this, probably try to ground Johnnie into the next decade. In fact, he would probably overreact, and Derek didn't want him to worry. Johnnie obviously wasn't going to run off again.

“Let's keep this between us,” Derek suddenly told his son, who looked at him. “There's no need to upset your Papa, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

Derek would have wanted to be on the receiving end of that explosion from his mate, and he figured if he could spare his son then he would try. He was just a six-year-old. It was a mistake, and he'd learned his lesson. Stiles didn't need to know that his son had had a near death experience.

When they got back to the clearing, Johnnie had his head down, guilty. “There you are,” Stiles said as they came over, and he nudged their son in the ear with his nose. “Where did you run off to?”

Derek was about to tell him that he'd just run after a rabbit, but then Johnnie started to yowl. “I was chasing a bunny and I went into the road and I almost got hit by a car and I'm sorry Papa I won't do it again!” he rushed out then dropped onto the ground to cover his eyes with his paws.

Stiles stared, before the hair along his back and his tail raised. “WHAT?!”

Well, best laid plans...

###### 

Johnnie was grounded for two weeks. Stiles knew that Derek thought that was a bit extreme, but one stern look had his mate holding back any objections that he might have. Their son was allowed to go outside and play when he had done his work sheets for school, but he wasn't allowed to play his 3DS or get onto the laptop that he and Talia shared. And he was only allowed thirty minutes of TV a day and only if his room was spotless.

That also meant he wasn't allowed to go to Zoe's Showing party. Her status has manifested, and it was time for it to be announced. Allison and Scott had invited all of the kids and their parents over for a big party, but Johnnie wasn't allowed to go.

“But Papaaaa!” he whined, following Stiles around and tugging on his shirt tail. “Please!”

“No,” Stiles said simply. “You're staying home with Daddy.”

“But! But!”

“No buts. You should've thought about this before you broke the rules.” 

Johnnie stopped in the middle of the living room, his face screwing up. Stiles just knew this wasn't going to end well. He was right, because Johnnie threw himself onto the floor and started to wail, beating his feet and fists against the carpet. “I wanna go!” he screamed.

It was very rare for Johnnie to throw a tantrum. Talia tossed one all the time, but she was the temperamental twin, always screaming when she didn't get what she wanted. Johnnie was the quiet one, usually resorting to bargaining. But that hadn't worked this time.

“Johnathan Andrew Stilinski-Hale,” Stiles barked, and the little boy seemed to wither, pulling in on himself and staring with a red eyes over his hands up at Stiles. “Get up. Go to your room. Don't come out until Daddy calls you for dinner.” The little bit sat up but stayed on the floor, looking angry. “Now, or you're grounded for another week.” He snapped and pointed. “Now!”

Johnnie was up like a shot, running towards his room. He slammed the door, and Stiles made a frustrated sound. Talia had witnessed the whole thing from her spot on the couch next to Derek. Her brown eyes were wide, like she was afraid she was going to get in trouble too if she said anything.

“Talia, is that what you want to wear to the party?” Stiles asked her. Talia looked down at her jeans and t-shirt, before she hopped down from the couch and hurried away, saying she would be right back. Stiles took the opportunity to flop onto the couch and lean heavily against Derek's side. “I'm a monster.”

He didn't _want_ to punish his child. But after Derek had told him what had happened exactly, he couldn't help but bring the hammer of justice down hard on his son. Going into the road was such a big no no that Johnnie was lucky he wasn't grounded for two months. Stiles could barely sleep when Derek had told him how close the car had come, and he had been so scared to know that there was a strong possibility he could have been hit. He honest to God could have died. He needed incentive to never, ever do it again. 

“You're not a monster,” Derek told him, turning his head to kiss the top of his head. “You're better than me at discipline. I would have given in by now.”

“Who would have thought you were the soft one, huh?” Stiles asked, wrapping his arms around one of his husband's and sighing. “I hope he doesn't hate me.”

“He couldn't. He's just upset that he can't go to the party. He'll have forgotten all about it tomorrow.”

“Think so?” Stiles tilted his eyes up to look at his mate.

“He's six. He's very easily distracted.”

Stiles hoped that was true. He didn't want his son to hold a grudge against him for this. It was his first big punishment, and he couldn't be lenient if he wanted his son to mind him in the future and have respect for consequences. 

Talia came out of her room and hurried down the hall. “How do I look?” she chirped, before she did a twirl. She was wearing a jean overall dress with a yellow flower on the front, a purple shirt and black leggings. She even put a purple clip in her brown hair.

“You look adorable, my little princess,” Stiles said, putting his arms out for her. She came to him and he gave a big, wet kiss, causing her to giggle and wipe at her cheek. “Ready to go to the party?”

“Yeah!” Talia said, bouncing on her sneakers. 

“Okay, say goodbye to Daddy. I'm going to look in on your brother,” he said, standing up, and Talia pounced Derek as he walked away. He knocked twice on Johnnie's door, before he looked in. “I'm leaving.” 

Johnnie was sitting in the very middle of his bed, his arms and legs crossed and his cheeks puffed out in a pout. He looked over at Stiles then turned to give him his back.

Stiles sighed. “Well, okay. I'll bring you a piece of cake, kiddo.” When Johnnie didn't react to that, Stiles closed the door and went back to the living room to grab Talia and head out. 

The party was already in full swing when they arrived. Scott answered the door in all smiles, happy to have a secret that they could share with much fanfare. He took them in and his expression fell a bit. “Johnnie's still grounded, huh?” he asked.

“Yup,” Stiles said. “I told him I'd bring him cake.”

“We'll make sure to save him a piece then,” Scott said, stepping to the side to let them in. “I bet Talia will tell him all about the party, won't you, Talia?” 

“You bet!” Talia said, before she ran inside, immediately finding Zoe and hugging her. 

Stiles moved in close to his friend. “Okay, so I know you've been keeping it a secret, but you're going to tell me, right? Before everyone else?” he asked in a soft, conspiratorial voice.

“Now why would I do that?” Scott said, equally soft.

“Because I'm your best friend, and you love me lots and lots,” Stiles told him , but really, it should have been obvious.

“True, but I'm still not gonna,” Scott started off into the main room where everyone else was.

“I would tell you first!” Probably. He huffed as Scott just laughed.

Moving into the room, Stiles took stock of everyone that was there. Huddled in a giggling group of kids were Zoe, Talia, Rena and a couple girls that were Zoe's age, and he recognized them as friends from her school. Scott went over to Allison, who was bringing food to a long table with a cake. He swung Tony up onto his hip when he reached her, saying something and making her giggle. Erica and Boyd were over by the bay windows. Riley was in his mother's arms, tilting back like dead weight and watching the room upside down. Jackson and Lydia were talking with them, and Ainsley was looking sleepy, leaning into Jackson's shoulder. 

His eyes moved back to Zoe as she tried to wrangle her friend into a game of HedBanz, which may have been a little beyond five year old Rena, but she was more than likely going to try her hardest. He wished he could just tell what Zoe's manifestation was by looking at her, but it just wasn't possible. She was a lot like her mother: assertive, had leadership qualities and quick-witted. She could have been an alpha. But then she was also a lot like Scott, in that she was kind, caring and a total motherhen of the group, so omega was possible too. But then those qualities could be in any status, so she could be a beta for all he knew.

Ugh, this was frustrating. And he just knew that Scott was going to draw out the announcement as long as he could.

Showing Parties were kind of like coming of age parties in a way. Parents finally were able to say 'my kid is an alpha/beta/omega, and they're going to be amazing.' That meant mom and dad broke out the baby pictures, because look how far she's come! Everyone sat down around the coffee table as the kids played their game, and Scott and Allison started to tell their stories. 

“When Zoe was born,” Scott said, pulling out a picture of a tiny, scrunchy-faced baby swaddled in a pinky and purple blanket and handing it to his right to be passed around. “She was so little, only seven pounds. I remember thinking that I was going to drop her, and she was going to break or explode.”

“I had to reassure him that she was a baby not a grenade,” Allison mused, setting her hand on his shoulder.

“But I was so big when I was pregnant, and she was this tiny thing. And then she cried, and it was like she had megaphones for lungs, she was so loud!” He was smiling as he said, like having his ears split open was one of his fondest memories.

Stiles could relate. When Talia and Johnnie cried for the first time, it was like a symphony. He was more than happy to hear his kids wail for the first time after taking their first breaths.

“She didn't stay little for long though,” Allison said, and there was a murmur of agreement through the group, because children were like weeds and they just shot up like they had any right to grow up so fast and stop being the parents' little babies. “Soon enough she was crawling then walking then going to preschool, and I don't know where any of that time went.”

Oh, oh God, what was this stinging in Stiles's eyes? The more he listened, the more he remembered that his kids were growing up too, and he already knew from the Disney vacation that was not a safe subject to think about. He sniffed as softly as he could, thankful everyone was looking at Scott and Allison with there soft, reverent expressions and ignoring him. 

“Do you remember what she said when we told her she was going to be a big sister?” Scott asked Allison, and she just smiled, nodding. “She said 'okay, if that makes you happy.' That was the most ridiculous thing that I've ever heard come out of her mouth.”

“She patted our hands too,” Allison said with a laugh, imitating the motion on Scott. “As if to say 'there, there.'” 

Scott and Allison went on, speaking in turn with different stories about their little girl. Stiles could remember most of these, especially the time when Zoe announced herself queen of the park and got a group of kids to bow to her and bring her juice boxes and cookies like offerings. There was also the time Zoe won an award for counting to a hundred and showed it to anyone that had eyes.

After a while, Zoe came over, the headband from the game still around her head and a card with a bicycle on it on her forehead. “Can we have cake now?” she asked, more or less flopping over Scott's lap and interrupting his story about her learning to ride a bike without training wheels.

“Okay, okay,” Allison said, pulling her headband off as the other kids came to crowd around them. “Do you want to tell everyone your big secret?”

“Can I?” Zoe asked, her head popping up from where she'd melted on her father's lap.

“It's your show, sweetie,” Scott told her.

Zoe scrambled to her feet, smoothing down her shirt and clearing her throat. “I, Zoe McCall,” She glanced at her parents, her grin growing, before her arms shot out and she belted out, “Am an omega!”

The applause was immediate, and so was Erica turning to Jackson and telling him he owed her ten bucks. The kids cheered too, at least the ones old enough to know what was going on. 

Talia squealed, jumping up and down and clapping before rushing forward and taking Zoe's hands in hers. “I knew you'd be an omega!” she said, before she hugged her around the neck. “That means when I show as an alpha, you can be my omega!”

Zoe didn't miss a beat. “Sure!” Then she started to pull her away. “Come on, let's get some cake!”

“Yay, cake!” was Talia's opinion. 

As they ran off hand in hand, Stiles looked at Scott and Allison, and they looked back. “Did my daughter just propose to yours?”

Nervous laughter bubbled out of Scott. “They're just kids. It doesn't mean anything.” He looked between Allison and Stiles, sagging a little. “It doesn't mean anything, right?”

“No,” Allison said. “Kids do that all the time. They don't know what it means.” She rubbed her neck. “They'll forget about it soon enough.” She stood up. “Come on. Let's go pass out the cake.” She took Scott's hand and pulled him off the couch to follow the kids.

Stiles sat there and listened to Jackson and Erica making a new bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks forever to [WhatTheHale](http://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthehale) for the read.
> 
> The upcoming chapters will probably be shorter--probably 10k words instead of 20k--so I can churn them out faster. There we'll also be larger timeskips.
> 
> Also I know that there is no Tower of Terror in Disneyland, but I couldn't help myself.
> 
> For those interested in some hot and heavy time between Peter and Deucalion, please read [Improvisation is an Art Form](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1044085).


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two more years have passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by [WhatTheHale](http://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthehale).

A whole year passed without incident. It was Christmas time again, and two days after they all opened their presents, Northern Cali was hit with a snowstorm the likes of which the state hadn't seen in years. The yard was a blanket of white, and the kids squealed upon seeing it, running out into the snow barefoot and in jammies. Derek hurried after them, catching them and tucking them under his arms to carry them back inside so they could put on a couple layers.

Sleepy Claudia was all bundled up in her sheep pajamas and two blankets, her ears carefully covered. Stiles dragged her baby swing onto the porch so he could watch the twenty-two month old angel as his kids and mate ran around in the yard. The baby looked like she was ready to just sleep for another couple hours anyway, a bit too young to give much of a care about the rarity that was snow in Beacon Hills.

Talia was running around and singing 'Do You Want To Build A Snowman?' from Frozen, or at least just that line over and over again, as Johnnie ran behind her and just said 'Yes!' repeatedly with growing frustration as he was ignored. Then Talia skidded to a halt and turned toward the house. Johnnie tried not to run into her and ended up face down in the snow. “We need a carrot!” she demanded. “For Olaf the snowman! He likes warm hugs!”

Derek looked up at the porch where Stiles was. “Do we even have any carrots?”

“I think we only have baby ones,” Stiles said as he setting the baby swing so Claudia would go slowly back and forth, hopefully keeping her asleep for a while. He went inside, heading toward the kitchen and rifling through the crisper in the fridge. “Huh,” he said, pulling out a bag that had two large carrots in it. “I wonder what we got these for.” Probably stir fry. He judged the size of them and picked the best one. 

As he walked back outside, Chewie went barreling out, slipping on the steps with her big paws but immediately getting back up after eating snow. “I got your carrot,” he announced to the kids, who were working on the bottom ball of their snowman.

“Toss it!” Johnnie called, holding up his hands. Stiles did, and he fumbled with it a bit in his mittens before he shoved the blunt end into his coat pocket and went back to making the mound of snow he and his sister had collected more round. 

“They're having fun,” Derek said as he came to sit on the porch steps. Chewie came bumbling up to slot herself between his legs and push her cold nose into his neck as he rubbed his hands along her shoulders and back. He laughed as she snuffled against him, pushing at her head. “You stop that.”

“Who knows when they'll see snow again?” Stiles against as he sat next to his mate. Chewie clamored under Derek's bent leg to get to him, putting her head on his lap and looking up at him with large, soulful brown eyes. He rubbed at her cold, soft ear.

The kids built a kind of wonky snowman, but they were very proud of him. He kind of looked like Olaf from the film, and they took turns hugging him, laughing. It was nice to see them so carefree, their cheeks and noses frostbitten rosy and their breaths coming out in white puffs of air.

Stiles wrapped his arms around one of Derek's turning his head to press his face into his neck and breath in his scent. Derek jerked a little, whispering a breathy 'Cold!' but didn't pull away completely. So he took the opportunity to nuzzle his mate behind the ear until he was chuckling and shrinking away from it with a 'Stiles, quit it.'

He didn't quit it. Instead he caught his mate's earlobe between his teeth and gave it a tug. His hand came up to hold Derek's wonderful chiseled jaw, before he trailing his lips along Derek's fur-covered jaw to capture his lips. He always got especially fuzzy in the cold months. Stiles liked to call it his winter coat. He pressed his tongue between his lips, tasting warmth in sharp contrast to the frigid air he was sucking through his nose.

Then cold exploded across the sides of their faces, making them jerk away from each other. They looked over at their giggling children, who immediately stopped laughing and pointed at one another. Apparently it was every wolf for his or herself when faced with Derek's glowing eyes.

Derek burst forward with a growl, and Talia and Johnnie both shrieked, scattering in opposite directions. After a second, Derek went after their daughter, so Stiles ran off after Johnnie with a peal of high laughter. “I'm going to get you!” Stiles called after him, making grabby hands. 

“No, Papa, no!” Johnnie squealed, making a wide circle against the tree line and kicking up snow as he ran. “I didn't do it! It was Talia!”

“Was not!” Talia called as she blurred past them with Derek hot on her heels.

“Was too—oof!” Johnnie wiggled like a caterpillar as Stiles grabbed onto him and started to play bite at his ear. “No, don't eat me!” 

“Nom nom nom, I'm the abominable snow man, here to eat all the little boys and girls, nom!” Stiles said as Johnnie squealed and kicked his feet. The boy wriggled about in his arms until he sagged and just went dead weight.

Stiles looked over at where Talia was dashing in circles and Derek was making failed grabs for her. She seemed to be wearing him down, which was pretty impressive, but then she was seven and a bundle of wolfy energy. 

Eventually he just stopped grabbing for her and plopped down in the snow like he was lifeless. She stopped, looking down at him with an inquisitive little 'Daddy?' He stayed still until she was close, leaning over him and going to touch. That was when he nabbed her into his arms with a triumphant noise. She shrieked with delight, kicking her legs and flailing her arms as he nuzzled her. 

Stiles glanced down at his son, who was playing dead, his tongue out of his gaping mouth and everything. “Hey, kiddo,” he said softly, and Johnnie's eyes popped open to swivel up toward him as his mouth closed. “You wanna help me pelt your daddy and sister with snowballs?” 

Johnnie just grinned.

They ended up using the corner of the house as their shield, and they started whipping snow balls lightning fast at Derek and Talia, who were still on the ground. With yells and gasps, Talia and Derek scrambled up and made for the trees hand in hand. They disappeared into the wood, and Stiles called a cease on their assault, peering through the trees to try and find them.

“If you see any movement, lob a snowball at it,” Stiles told his son, holding a ball in his hand while the other was on Johnnie's shoulder.

“Kay, Papa,” Johnnie said, his hand poised with ammunition. 

It was quiet, only the sound of their breathing in the air. Stiles was starting to think Derek had taken Talia and run, maybe gone behind the house and went inside. They could be having hot chocolate for all he knew, leaving him and Johnnie out in the cold. Then Chewie let out a 'barow!' and all hell broke loose. A barrage of snowballs started to pelt Stiles and Johnnie from the treeline, by the side of the house so the corner of it gave them no shelter.

“Retreat! Tactical retreat!” Stiles said, trying to hide Johnnie's body with his own as he urged him around the house. His back felt like a paintball board by the time they reached the opposite corner. “Ow, your other dad is a jerk,” he said, rubbing at his stinging skin.

“How do you know it wasn't Talia?” Johnnie asked with a smile.

Stiles halted and thought about that, before he shrugged. “Good point.” He looked around the corner, trying to find his husband and strong-armed little girl, but there was no movement to be found. “Do you know what they say the best defense is, kiddo?”

“A good offense?” Johnnie asked, bright eyed and too smart.

“That's right. C'mon,” Stiles said, taking him by the hand and darting toward the trees. They hid amongst the snow covered brush, crouching and going still as they waited. Their breaths were twin clouds of white from their parted lips.

For a while the only sound was their beating hearts, then there was rustling as Talia and Derek appeared, moving slow and looking toward the house. They apparently didn't see the little maneuver that had Stiles and Johnnie less than ten feet from them. And they definitely weren't expecting it when they rose from the bushes and pelted them with balls of snow.

So it was like this. They all dashed through the trees, whipping snowballs at each other. All the while they stayed within sight of the house, and Stiles kept his ear trained for any little whines or cries that Claudia might make when she started to wake up from her slumber. At some point the twins came together as one and started to hurl snowballs at their fathers, and it was all downhill from there.

“Mercy! Mercy! Oh my God, mercy!” Stiles cried as he and Derek ran back toward the house, a yapping Chewie following behind them. “We surrender!” Their kids were forces of nature, with deadly aim and fierceness. 

Finally the kids relented, looking smug. Johnnie threw himself down in the snow, announcing that it was snow angel time, and Talia soon followed. Stiles was just glad he had a moment to rest, and he did so by pushing Derek onto the steps of the porch and plopping into his lap. He glanced at Claudia, making sure she was still snug as a bug in a rug in her blankets, sleeping soundly. 

“Our kids are terrors,” Derek said, hugging Stiles to his front and watching Talia and Johnnie draw ears and tails on their snow angels.

“Oh, just wait until they're older and learn what an allowance is.” Stiles was not looking forward to that _negotiation._

###### 

Derek loved his job. Most of the time. Because most of the time it was easy sailing. Dealing with clients was not his strong suit, but that was what he had Ethan for. 

The other wolf was a fair amount more friendly, especially since he and Danny adopted Pavel, who was now four months from turning six and growing like a weed. He was the cutest kid, chubby but sweet with his big cheeks and platinum curly hair. Sometimes when he turned up at the office, Derek could swear he grew five inches.

It was Ethan's day off, so of course everything went to shit. A client was _not pleased_ because apparently the stained planks of wood that were going to be laid in his dining room didn't look they way he wanted because the windows in the room were rose-tinted. Did this client tell anyone about his windows? No, of course not. Derek was going to tear out his throat with his teeth, because this issue was not his company's fault.

So that was his day. All he wanted in the world was to go home and plow his face into the couch for a nap. It was a nap day, definitely, and maybe his kids would even be quiet for an hour or two.

When he got home, he opened the door and could hear the muted tones of the TV. “I'm home,” he called out vaguely as he tossed his keys into the green dish on the table in the entryway. Immediately the kids came rushing up to him, their fingers held up to their lips as they shushed him and took one hand each. “What are you kids doing?” he asked in muted tones as they pulled him into the living room. They hushed him again and pointed.

Stiles was a dead to the world lump on the couch, his head thrown over the backrest, mouth open as he snored softly. His shoulders were sagged, his hands limp on his lap with a baby bib underneath them. Apparently he had had a long day too, if this cuteness was evidence.

Derek looked over at the playpen where Claudia had fallen asleep too with her teething ring in her mouth. He turned his gaze down to where his kids were still holding his hands, gazing up at him with brown and green eyes. It was like they were waiting for him to say something. He crouched down between them, a conspirator's smile crossing his lips. “How about we show your papa why he shouldn't have left you to your own devices?”

Stiles woke up slowly, and Derek watched him from the armchair where he was sitting with the twins in his lap. It took a moment for Stiles to realize there was anything amiss, but eventually he looked down at himself and found marker streaks in shapes of Talia's cartoon wolves, dragons and words all over his arms. “Waz'dis?” he mumbled, turning his arms over and pulling them back to look at them.

He got up, moved over to the playpen and picked up the mirror hanging off the short fence so he could look at his face where his cheeks were covered in black spirals. “Why am I a giant coloring book?” he asked, putting the mirror back and turning about with his hands on his hips.

“It was Daddy's idea!” Johnnie said immediately.

“Traitor,” Derek sighed, shaking his head.

“That's my boy,” Stiles said, before he grabbed the markers that had been left on the coffee table and attacked.

###### 

As regional alpha and pack leader, Derek had several responsibilities to the Beacon Hills pack. One of those was helping teach the kids how to hunt. It was to help ease their inner wolves' need for violence and blood. So Derek gathered up the eldest of the kids, which were Zoe, the twins, Tony and Rena, and led them away from the clearing where everyone was gathered.

“What do you see?” Derek asked them as they came to a stop by the lake. He turned to face his mini wolf pack.

They all glanced around before Johnnie said “Water?” like a question.

“And why is the water important?” Derek asked, patient. 

The wolves looked at each other, before Zoe lifted her head higher. “Prey drinks from it,” she decided.

The corners of Derek's lips twitched up just a touch. “And?”

“And...” Zoe tried, but she couldn't seem to come up with an elaboration.

Talia bumped her shoulder with her own. “We can track prey from here.” When Zoe looked at her, she licked her nose playfully. It made Zoe sag a bit in appreciation.

“Right,” Derek said, before he tilted his nose up and sniffed. “Now let's try to find a scent.” 

The kids put their noses to the ground, and Derek watched them motor around the area they were in. Johnnie and Rena were so intent on the ground that they bumped heads, then Johnnie went to town apologizing by rubbing and nuzzling against Rena's neck. If that wasn't telling, Derek didn't know what was. 

His kids were too young to have mates, but they were certainly getting points for trying.

“Found something, found something!” Tony called, bouncing on his silver paws.

Derek went over to him and sniffed the ground he indicated, where it wasn't trampled by his happy dancing feet. “Rabbit,” he clarified, turning to the kids. “Zoe, as eldest, you should take point.”

Zoe's ears perked up, before she wilted a little as everyone looked at her. “But I've never...” She took a step or two back. “I don't think...”

“You can do it!” Talia told her, headbutting her shoulder playfully. “I think you can.”

Zoe stared at her friend, her ears slowly going back up from their pitiful position against her head. She nosed against Talia's head, before she moved over to Derek and put her nose to the ground, taking a deep breath of the scent of hare. Then she started the charge, jogging along with her head lowered.

Derek and the other kids followed after her. They all kept their heads down too, following the scent just the same. Zoe was steadfast, her jog turning into a lope as the scent grew stronger. Derek could tell their quarry was close, and he knew the feeling of blood pumping through the veins was shared by his troop. Zoe ran in a circle around a tree in her quest, before she moved in a straight line through the soft moss and fallen leaves.

Then she spotted the rabbit. Derek knew the stock still jerk of her body, before she went to ground. Derek moved up beside her on his belly, looking about fifteen feet away where a white elfin hare was lazily bathing itself. Talia moved up on Zoe's other side, crouched low with her ears back. Behind them, the kids all went low, not sure what else to do but watch.

“Do I have to kill it?” Zoe asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Derek's ear flicked toward her, but he kept his eyes on the rabbit. “Do you not want to?”

“Not really,” she said, sounding sad about it. “Tracking it was fun. But it's a fluffy bunny, and I don't want to hurt it.”

“You don't have to,” Derek said, about to stand up and call off the chase.

“I will!” Talia hissed, before she burst into movement, darting forward and surprising the rabbit. It could do little more than scream before her jaws snapped shut around its neck, filling the night air with the scent of blood. She stood tall with it in her maw, the red staining its white fur.

Derek couldn't help but be impressed. She wasn't squeamish at all about it. She went for the kill in the most lethal, effective way, making sure the rabbit didn't suffer. He'd have to tell Stiles all about this. His mate would be so proud he'd probably cry. He felt a swelling of happiness in his chest, but then Talia turned her head toward them and it felt like he'd swallowed a rock.

Talia's eyes were bright red.

But then she blinked and they were back to the brown she'd inherited from her papa. She pranced over on happy feet, dropping the rabbit carcass at Zoe's feet and smiling at her with bloody teeth. “For you,” she said, tongue lolling out of her mouth.

Zoe stared down at the rabbit, leaning back a bit. “Uh, thanks.” Then she looked at Derek. “Do I have to eat that?”

“No,” Derek said with a chuff of a laugh, coming back to himself. “You did very well, Talia. Your other father with be ecstatic to hear about this.” And the color of her eyes. She couldn't be Showing yet. She wasn't even seven and a half.

“Yay!” Talia squealed, before she danced around them. “I can lead us back!” She hopped over Johnnie and started loping back toward the clearing.

“Let's go, kids,” Derek said, before he started off, following his daughter.

Everyone was in the clearing, socializing. The kids that hadn't gone on the little hunt, because they were too young, were amusing themselves. Ainsley was attached to Jackson via puppy leash, bouncing around with Riley who was bound to Boyd. They were getting tangled and giggling as their fathers had to undo the knot. Erica and Lydia were chatting, letting their mates handle the kids for now.

Pavel was the picture of perfect puppy, wedged between his fathers and keeping out of trouble as Danny and Ethan held light conversation with Peter and Deucalion.

Claudia, the youngest at only two years, had been let out of the baby sling when she shifted. It was her first time on the puppy leash, and she was sticking by Stiles's side. She didn't really look like either of her fathers. She was mostly a silverish white with black covering her shoulders and going down her spine. One of her back feet was black too. Mostly she looked like a little ghost. And she was having a great time digging holes.

As the kids that went on the hunt dispersed, Derek trotted over to Stiles and Claudia with her dirty paws. “How'd it go?” Stiles asked as their daughter dug up a fat grub and nosed it around in the dirt.

“Good,” Derek said, sitting down and looking over at his shoulder where Zoe, Talia, Johnnie and Rena were all gathered together. “Zoe tracked a rabbit and Talia took it down. It was a clean, efficient kill. It was impressive.”

Stiles tipped his head to one side. “So it's her that smells like blood.”

“Is that judgment I hear in your tone?” Derek asked, bumping his nose against his mate's.

“No. I know what the inner wolf wants. I've killed a bunny or two.”

“From what I remember, your choice of prey is pigeons.”

“We don't talk about that,” Stiles huffed, turning up his nose.

“It's not just the rabbit. You should have seen her eyes when she killed it.” Derek looked back over to his daughter. She was trotting back over to the little group of kids with a flower in her mouth. She presented it to Zoe, no doubt an apology for the rabbit. Zoe took in and laid her paw gently over the stem, nuzzling Talia's ear.

“Were they red?”

Derek looked over at Stiles, surprised. “How'd you know?”

Stiles's shoulders dropped a little, and he put a paw over Claudia, rolling her over the grass and leaning down to lick at her dirty face. “I've seen it before, many times. The first was when she was three.”

“Three?” Derek's ears shot toward the sky. “That's impossible. She shouldn't start manifesting until puberty at least.”

“I know.” Stiles let the wiggling little Claudia go back to her digging. “But you saw it.”

Derek had, and he didn't know what to do about it, or if he even _should_ do anything about it. He had just never heard of someone manifesting so early. He'd been nearly ten himself when his eyes had shown red for the first time. That, and learning that his daughter was an alpha was... well, he shouldn't have been surprised. She'd been calling herself an alpha for years.

Hours later when the sleepy kids had been bathed, Claudia had been put down and Johnnie had taken Chewie to bed, Derek and Stiles were tucking Talia in. They sat on either side of her on her twin bed, and she yawned hugely before she rubbed her eye with the back of her hand.

“Talia,” Stiles started, smoothing down the covers. “We have to ask you a question.”

“'Bout what?” Talia asked sleepily. 

“Can you show us your eyes? Your real wolf's eyes?” Derek asked, taking her smaller hand in his and covering the back of it with his other.

She looked between them, obviously confused, before she blinked and her eyes were as red as Derek's ever were. Then she blinked again and they'd faded into brown. She rubbed her free hand into one of them again.

Derek leaned back. “Talia...”

“Don't tell Johnnie,” she said, shaking her head. “I'm waiting for him to Show, so I'm keeping it a secret.” She tightened her hand around Derek's, and he and Stiles leaned in as she lowered her voice. “He's my little brother. I don't want him to feel left behind.”

Derek had to smile. “Don't worry, sweetheart. We won't tell him.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Talia said with a smile, settling back. 

Back in their room, Derek was pulling of his shirt when he felt Stiles's fingers run up his spine. He shuddered, smiling, before he turned and put his arms around his mate. “If anything, at least we know now,” he said, leaning in to press his lips into Stiles's.

“Yup, one out of three,” Stiles agreed, his fingertips fluttering over Derek's ribs. “There's another thing we know now too.” He stepped back, pulling his own shirt over his head.

“What's that?” Derek asked, following after his slowly stripping mate and unbuttoning his own pants.

“Talia,” Stiles said, dropping his pants and hopping into the bed, before he tugged off his socks. “Is the next regional alpha.”

Derek froze, his hands still on his button. He hadn't even considered that. Of course he knew that if any of his children were alphas then the mantle might fall to them, but he had never connected that to his daughters or son becoming pack leader. “I'll have to start training her,” he mumbled.

“Not yet you don't,” Stiles said as he wiggled under the covers and made grabby hands for him. “She's still a baby. You can wait a while until you introduce her to pack politics.” He patted the bed, and Derek let go of his pants to climb in and press close. “What if they're all alphas, like you and your sisters? Wouldn't that be something?”

“Not when the fighting starts.”

###### 

When Stiles opened the door, the sound of crying reached his ears, and Peter's eyebrows went up. “Well, you look like you walked through a wind storm.”

Stiles laughed, and it wasn't humorous. He tried to run his fingers through his wild hair, before he opened the door wider and waved him in. “Claudia's been crying for an hour. She pulled one of her toys in half with her crazy werewolf baby strength and has been inconsolable since.”

“You could have called me,” Peter said as he followed Stiles toward the playpen where the two-year-old was wailing at the top of her lungs. “I could have picked something up for her.”

Stiles waved his hand, looking down at the toddler. “I didn't even think about it.” He rubbed the sides of his face. “My ears are ringing.” 

Claudia was standing up in her playpen, gripping the sides and screaming. Her face was red and tear stained. Apparently she'd really loved that toy she'd accidentally mauled. Werewolf babies had a tendency to destroy things without meaning too. Talia and Johnnie had destroyed a few teddy bears in their day.

“Could I...?” Peter asked, indicating to the screeching baby.

“Be my guest,” Stiles said, putting up his hands and going to flop on the couch with his arm over his eyes. 

Peter leaned over and pulled Claudia into his arms, serving mostly to bring her high pitched keens closer to his sensitive ears. He started to walk in a path back and forth, gently bouncing her on his hips. “You are in a mood today, aren't you, little one?” he asked her as she clutched at his shirt and her nose leaked.

“Probably just have to let her wear herself out,” Stiles moaned, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes.

“That'll take forever,” Peter said, trying to think as his own ears started to ring. “You know, there was a song my mother used to sing me and my sister, and Talia sang it to Derek and the girls.” He dropped his head back, clenching his eyes shut. “How did it go?”

“You're going to sing to her?” Stiles asked incredulously, which, rude.

“I'm going to try, if I can remember,” Peter told him, giving him a look before he turned back to the hiccuping and squealing baby. He started to rub her back in circles, continuing his path across the floor as he started to sing in soft tones. 

“Sleep my child and peace attend you, all through the night. Guardian angels God with send you, all through the night.” It brought back old, buried memories to hear the tune again. He was surprised he even remembered the way it rose and fell, let alone the lyrics. “Soft the drowsy hours are creeping. Hill and vale in slumber sleeping. I my loving vigil keeping, all through the night.” He could almost hear his mother in his head as he sang. Her voice had been high and clear like a bell, and she could chase away any nightmares by just parting her lips.

Claudia was watching him closely, her cries dulling to little whines. “While the moon her watch is keeping, all through the night. While the weary world in sleeping, all through the night.” Her grip on his shirt loosened, and she leaned heavily against his shoulder, her eyelids starting to droop. “Over they spirit gently stealing visions of delight revealing, breathes a pure and holy feeling, all through the night.” 

He stopped his slow pacing as Claudia's gaze went a bit glossy, only sniffling softly now. “Love, you my thoughts are turning, all through the night. All for you my heart is yearning, all through the night.” He watched her take a deep breath and let it out, her eyes finally closely all the way. “Though sad fate our lives may sever, parting will not last forever. There's hope that leaves me never, all through the night.” He leaned in, taking a breath of her, the baby powder and sweetness that was all her own, before he pressed her lips to her head.

When he slowly turned to regard Stiles, he was sitting up on the couch, his chin in his hands and a gentle look of awe on his face. “You have a nice voice,” he said softly, worried about waking her.

“Funny,” Peter said, equally soft. “No one ever wants to hear me sing.”

Stiles just smiled, standing up. “I should have you record that so I can play it for her.” He held out his hands. “Here, I'll take her and put her down.”

Peter was drawing away before he knew what he was doing and blinked at his own reaction. “Um.” He looked at the sleeping little girl. “Do you mind if I hold her a while? I just...” He turned his nose into her hair again, not sure exactly what to say.

Stiles smiled wider, dropping his hands. “Sure. I'll go check on the twins. They ran outside to safety when Claudia started to scream.” He stepped past him, heading out through the kitchen into the back yard.

Peter turned, heading through the living room to the staircase. He headed upstairs and to the nursery, leaving the light off and going to stand by the crib. “You're getting so big, little miss,” he told her as he ran his hand up and down her back. “You used to be so little. So did your brother and sister. Soon you'll all be adults, then who will I spoil rotten?” She snuffled softly, and he smiled.

When he got back downstairs, the twins were lying in front of the TV, and a significantly less frazzled looking Stiles was on the couch. “Movie time?” he asked, heading over to sit next to Stiles.

“We're gonna watch Pocahontas,” Talia announced as the Disney castle logo came up on screen.

“Do you like this movie, Uncle Peter?” Johnnie asked, looking over his shoulder at him.

“I haven't seen it,” he admitted, and the kids looked at him with dual wide eyes. He just shrugged. He'd never had a reason to sit down and watch all the old Disney flicks. He had seen The Lion King he was pretty sure, or at least he thought he had. He felt like he had. Maybe he just knew the character names from all the toys Talia and Johnnie had.

As the movie started up, Peter leaned back. He squinted at the screen. “Everyone's singing already,” he mumbled.

Stiles snorted. “They do that.”

Peter hadn't seen enough Disney movies, or fantasy movies apparently, because he had many opinions about this one. “It's good that she didn't run to greet those Englishmen that had been at sea for months. This would be a very different movie.”

“Oh my God!” Stiles said, very loudly.

“What does that mean?” Johnnie asked as he and his sister turned around to look at them.

“Nothing, kiddo,” Stiles said, smiling, and when they turned back around he sent Peter a hot glare.

But Peter wasn't done. “So a magic tree and her magical wind made the Native American girl and the Englishman able to understand each other?” Movie magic he could understand, but that seemed a bit lazy to him. And later, “That bear would not have let her just pick up her cub. That's a terrible lesson to teach children.” His chin was in his in hand by the time he had another comment. “How is she singing underwater?”

Talia whipped around. “Shut _up_ , Uncle Peter!” she shouted at him so loud her voice bounced off the windows.

Peter's eyes widened as he stared at her. What was that? That was awfully aggressive. She was normally softer when she was telling people to shut up.

As the movie went on, he put it out of his mind. Eventually Derek came home and they watched The Lion King, which he hadn't seen but he found he rather liked. Eventually it was time for him to leave.

Stiles followed him to the door. “Hey, I had a question,” he said, and Peter turned to face him. “Actually more of a request. My heat week is soon, and my dad couldn't get more than a couple days off. Cora and Jo can take them for a while, but they've got work. I always ask Isaac, but he's living with Grayson now, and I don't know if they have room for all three.”

“Do you need me to take them for a few days? I can, if that's what you're asking,” Peter told him.

“Could you? Just Talia and Johnnie. Isaac's got Claudia. It's just be for like three days max.”

“That's fine.”

“Don't you need to talk to Deucalion?”

Oh. Right. Peter put his hands in his pockets. “I'll talk to him and get back to you by tomorrow.”

Stiles smiled. “Thanks, Peter.”

“No problem.”

###### 

Deucalion didn't have a problem with having the kids over for a few days, though he seemed to take a kind of muted amusement in Peter's eagerness. Peter took revenge by gnawing on his neck for a while, playing with his ability to heal hickeys at light speed.

Cora dropped the kids off on a Tuesday, unloading a ton of toys and a duffel bag full of clothes. “There are like twenty Disney movies in one of those bags,” she said, waving at them scattered around the apartment entryway. The kids were already inside, trying to find the cat so they could overload him with pets.

When Peter found them, Edison looked like he had given in to his fate, flopped over Johnnie lap as they stroked down his body. He was purring, but he didn't look like he had much choice. He was a tolerant cat though.

“Did you two have fun with your Aunt Cora?” he asked as he knelt down next to them.

“Yeah, Miss Jo taught us how to plant flowers,” Johnnie said as his comb his fingers through Edison's fur. 

That probably resulted in soil all over the place. The kids weren't exactly neat. But he didn't care. He adored them anyway. “So since you're going to be staying here for a few days, we should probably go to the store and get you two some food you'll like.” The kids would probably eat stuffed duck or seared lamb, but he didn't have enough for everyone, and Talia and Johnnie had such sophisticated palettes that they would probably prefer dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets.

Johnnie turned his big eyes up as he massaged Edison's ears, much to the pleasure of the cat. “Can we make pizza?”

“From scratch?” Peter asked, and the boy nodded. “I don't see why not.”

“I wanna throw the dough in the air!” Johnnie said, and Talia let out a gasp like that was the best idea she'd ever heard. “And it makes a big circle like whoosh!”

Like whoosh indeed.

After Googling homemade pizza and making a list of ingredients and other essentials, Peter dropped by the study to kiss Deucalion goodbye then piled the kids into his car and headed to the nearby supermarket. He would have taken the kids to the open air market he like to shop at, but that was probably the worst idea on the face of the planet. He could only imagine the kids running round with stains on their faces and clothes because one of the nicer vendors gave them free strawberries.

The kids were muted balls of excitement as they walked into the store. When they got a cart, Talia held onto one side and Johnnie held onto the other, probably a practiced store going technique taught by one of their parents. They got quite a few things without incident, Peter telling them what to grab if it was low enough for them to reach.

Then they reached the candy aisle and the calm broken down into glee.

Johnnie went sprinting down the lane as Talia grabbed a bag of Tootsie Pops and held them at Peter's elbow. “Can we get these? Please? Please?” she asked, turning the full force of her brown eyes on him. 

This wasn't fair. She already knew that he could hardly ever tell her no. He was pretty sure his reputation as the cool uncle would suffer if he did. “I guess you can,” he said with a sag of his shoulders, and she squealed before dropping the bag in the basket. He supposed he could keep those at his apartment for the kids whenever they came over.

Johnnie came blazing back, bearing two bags of candy, one a package of Hershey's Kisses and the other Starburst. “Can we get these?” he asked, holding both over his head.

“You can get one,” Peter said, because if he got bother then Talia would want another thing and sometimes there was a thing as too much candy.

Johnnie looked at him like he'd just told him to choose between puppies and kittens as cutest, before he looked at his spoils. It took him a long moment, before he eventually tossed the bag of Starburst in the bag then went tearing down the aisle again to put the Kisses up.

The kids were content until they got to the ice cream aisle which Peter wasn't even going to turn down, but they bullied him into it. They continue to bully him until they got a half gallon of mint chocolate chip and another half gallon of rocky road. At least he too would eat those, and maybe Deucalion would want some too. 

Suddenly Talia was tugging on the side of his shirt. “You have a pool, right?” she asked.

“It's not mine,” he told her as they headed for the registers. “It belongs to the complex.”

“Can we go swimming?” 

He stopped just before a line, looking down at her. “Did you bring your swimsuits?” To that, the kids shrugged, and Peter sighed, before he turned the cart around. “Let's go buy you some then.”

When they got home, the kids hurried after him as he opened the full trunk. “Let us help!” Johnnie said, holding his hands out.

“Yeah, we can do it! We're big kids!” Talia added, grinning.

His own little helpers. How had Peter gotten so lucky? “Okay, but tell me if it's too heavy.” He handed them both bags, just light stuff, and they ran into the apartment building. He gathered several bags himself and mourned that they'd have to make more than one trip. The kids were waiting at the elevator, and they rode up, then down, then up once more. 

And later they rode down again, but this time the kids were in their swimsuits, giggling as they ran toward the indoor pool at the back of the complex. Peter followed languidly after them, dressed in his own swim trunks. The pool was hardly ever in use that he'd seen, so he figured they likely wouldn't be disturbed.

The kids dropped their towels at the nearest chair and barreled right into the water with heavy splashes, shrieking with joy as they resurfaced. They splashed at each other in the shallow end as Peter sat down on the edge, submerging his feet. He watched Talia dunk Johnnie with a bark of laughter then look confused when he didn't come up again, only to get pulled under with a garble.

Eventually the kids came up to him where he was leaning back on his hands. “Can you throw us?” Johnnie asked, putting a hand on Peter's knee. “Daddy always picks up up and throws us when we go swimming.”

“Yeah, throw us, Uncle Peter!” Talia said, hunched down and treading water.

Peter smiled, before he dropped into the water. “I don't see why not,” he said, swinging Johnnie up as he squealed them tossing him into the deep end. Johnnie resurfaced with a grin, swimming back over as Peter did the same thing to Talia. And he kept doing it until his arms ached. The kids kept coming back though.

“Ugh, no more,” he said, drooping against the side of the pool. “I'm tired. You guys wear me out.” He looked at them as they dangled off his arms like little barnacles. “Why don't you have a cannonball competition or something?” The kids gasped at that idea, and Peter proceeded to get splashed a hundred times.

Eventually he caught sight of the clock hanging on the wall. “Okay, kids, it's almost time for dinner.” They were just kind of floating aimlessly around, their energy waned. “Let's head back up.”

That night they made the most amazing pizza. It was good that they made so much dough too, because half of it ended up on the floor. After dinner the kids pulled all the throw pillows off the couches and piled in front of the TV to watch one of the movies they'd brought with them. 

As the kids started to droop, Deucalion came into the room, and Peter looked down. “Careful,” he called to him, and he stopped. “Edison's right in front of you.”

Deucalion snorted, toeing the sleeping cat. “You know,” he said as he took a broad step over him and moved to the couch. “When I got you a cat, I assumed he wouldn't be in the way all the time.”

“Best laid plans,” Peter told him, leaning over to nose at the man's cheek before laying his head on his shoulder. “They're almost asleep,” he said, softer.

“So today was a success?” Deucalion asked, turning his head to put his nose in Peter's damp hair. “You still smell like chlorine.” 

“Showers can only do so much.”

When the credits started to roll on the movie, Peter shut off the TV and picked up the kids. They mumbled at him but didn't fight as he tucked them into the guest bed. He let himself look at them for a long moment, smiling before he shut off the light. 

Later he was reading in bed and adjusting his feet under the covers. “Stop moving, Edison,” he said as he chased the cat around the foot of the bed. “If I can't use you for a personal feet warmer, what good are you to me?” The cat just stood up, stretching, then hopped off the bed to go sleep in his cat bed in the closet. “No treats for you,” Peter made sure to tell him.

Deucalion shifted next to him, turning onto his stomach from his side and letting out a sigh. Eventually Peter set his book down, turning off his light and cuddled against his side, breathing in his scent. Deucalion made a little noise, his fingers finding Peter's and lacing together. Peter happily fell asleep like that.

And woke up at two in the morning to the sound of his name being whisper hissed next to his face. He blinked his eyes open, waiting a moment as they adjusted to the darkness then found Talia's face next to him. 

“What's wrong?” he asked, his voice heavy with sleep. He lifted a hand to rub at his eye. 

“I had a nightmare,” she told him, her voice soft, and she leaned in. “Can I sleep with you?”

Peter yawned, before he lifted the covers so she could climb in next to him. She ended up climbing over him though, kneeing him right in the ribs before curling up under the covers between him and Deucalion. He heard his mate sniff then shift and saw him put an arm around the little girl, and Talia wrapped her arms around his bicep before snuggling into his shoulder.

He fell back to sleep, listening to Deucalion and Talia breathing, but he was woken up about an hour later when the second twin crawled over him and situated himself into the middle of the bed. Peter turned on his side, throwing his arm over Johnnie and Talia, and Johnnie cuddled back against him, happily allowing himself to be spooned.

The next couple of days went about the same. The kids helped—or “helped”—make food, and they watched movies or went swimming. They even got Deucalion down to the pool once. They all eat too much candy and ice cream too.

At one point while Peter was putting steaks in the broiler for them all, Deucalion was reading to the kids, a Braille version of The Hobbit. He could hear Johnnie asking something, and when he moved back into the living room, Johnnie was on Deucalion's lap and Talia was distracted with a coloring booklet.

“If you teach me how to read like you, then I can read in the dark, right?” Johnnie asked, running his fingers over the bumps on the pages. “My daddies always make me turn off the light at 8:30, but I always want to keep reading.”

Deucalion smiled over Johnnie's shoulder, finding his hand and putting it to the page in certain places. “It took me a while to learn it, but I can teach you the alphabet.” He ran his fingers along the page. “One dot like this is A. Two dots down is B. Two dots across is C.” He went on, holding the boy's rapt attention.

After dinner, Johnnie was back on Deucalion's lap, and Peter was sitting with Talia on the other couch, watching a movie with her. When the doorbell rang, he couldn't help but sink a little. He knew that was his nephew or Stiles, here to pick up the kids. He was prepared for it, had packed their things and put them next to the door, but that didn't mean he wanted them to go. He rather liked the brats.

Getting up, he went over to the door, finding Derek on the other side of it. “Sorry, but I've decided to keep your kids,” he told him with a smile right as Talia came rushing up to grab onto his leg.

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” she said, bouncing happily. “We made pizza and went swimming and stayed up past our bedtime!”

Derek's eyebrow went up, a smile crossing his face. “Did you? Where's your brother?” After Talia pointed, he moved inside and to the couch where Deucalion and Johnnie were reading. “Hey, buddy,” he said.

“Daddy!” Johnnie said, tilting his head back on Deucalion's shoulder. “Deuc is teaching me—what is it?” He looked at his mentor.

“Braille,” Deucalion replied.

“Braille!” Johnnie chirped.

“Is he? That's awesome. You ready to go?” Derek asked.

“No,' Johnnie said, face falling.

Derek laughed. “Say goodbye, kiddo. It's time to head home.”

“Okay,” Johnnie huffed out, before he abruptly turned and hugged Deucalion around the neck. “Bye, Deuc!”

Deucalion looked a little stunned, before he patted Johnnie's back gently. “Bye.”

After Peter smothered the kids with hugs, they were gone, and he immediately missed them. He went over to plop down on the couch, his head in Deucalion's lap. “I guess now you'll have to read to me instead,” he said, crossing his ankles over the arm rest.

Deucalion snorted, one of his hands brushing through Peter's hair. “How interested are you in hobbits and dwarves?”

“Intensely.”

###### 

It was the night after the twins' eighth birthday party, and Stiles had only just gotten everything picked up and put away. The living room had been a mess of decorations, wrapping paper and cupcake papers. Somehow some had even gotten under the couches. But now it was all clean, thankfully, and Stiles was still going to get Derek back for disappearing due to a “work emergency.” Emergency his pert behind. Derek was just dodging cleaning duty.

Stiles was in the kitchen, making dinner. It was a cheesy beef and mac kind of night. The twins had disappeared somewhere. There was no screaming, so Stiles wasn't worried. Claudia was in her playpen, playing with the soft dinosaurs that Johnnie had bestowed upon her, deciding she was old enough for some of his old toys. Talia's dinosaurs were hidden somewhere. She may have loved her little sister, but giving up her toys was a bit beyond her.

He heard the click of the front door and smiled, hearing his husband announce that he was home. “In here,” he called to him, pouring some milk into the mac to make it extra gooey when he added the cheese. 

Derek came in, putting his briefcase on the island then moving over to wrap his arms around Stiles's middle. “Hey, you,” he said, nosing against his neck.

Stiles leaned his head back, giving him as much access as he wanted. “Hey,” he said, laying the wooden spoon against the side of the pot. “How was work? Did you get your emergency sorted out?”

“Yeah. It wasn't as bad as Ethan made it out to be, just a little mix up with materials.” He kissed Stiles's ear, before he reached in the pot to grab at a little piece of beef.

Stiles whacked his knuckles with the wooden spoon, laughing softly as he shook it out. “Good, that means you're not too tired to take the trash out.” 

Derek groaned, before he pulled back. “Well, I guess, if I have to.” He walked out of the kitchen, and there was the sound of plastic bags being gathered then the door being opened.

Going back to his cooking, Stiles added the cheese to the macaroni, making it nice and thick. The kids would smell the cheese soon and come running out, or he'd just call for them. He set about putting the food on plates, making sure to grab the ketchup bottle for the twins. He set two plates on the table when Derek came back in, and he was about to hand two more plates over then put the rest in Claudia's baby bowl when he turned and nearly dropped the plates on the floor.

The twins where coming up behind Derek, and Talia's hair was just gone. It had been hacked off close to her ears, looking very much like an eight-year-old's work. Derek noticed his horrified staring and turned as well, before quickly censoring his surprised question.

Talia looked pleased with herself though, grinning as they stared at her. “I decided to cut my hair!” she announced. “Well, Johnnie cut it, but I told him to.” She nudged her brother, who looked guilty enough for the both of them.

“Honey, you...” Stiles put the plates he was holding on the table. “Why didn't you tell us you wanted to cut your hair?” He moved over to touch the uneven strands. There wasn't much left. He hoped it could be salvaged.

“I didn't until just now,” she told him, reaching up to bat at his hands. “I'm hungry.” She moved past them to get up into her chair, making sure to douse her food with plenty of ketchup.

The next day they all went to a salon. The beauticians looked very amused by their story as to how Talia's hair came to look like she'd gotten into a fight with a weed cutter. Talia chattered endlessly about how it was all her idea to cut her hair as the hairdresser fixed the mess on her head. She ended up with a close cropped pixie cut, and she loved it, clapping her hands once she was done. 

Johnnie tugged on Stiles's hand on their way out of the salon. “I'm going to grow my hair out super long,” he said, looking very determined, and Stiles just let out a sigh.

###### 

It was November, which meant it was late salmon fishing season. This year, Grayson had been invited too, and he was joined by Derek, Peter, Boyd, Scott, and Jackson. He hadn't done much fishing before, but he figured it couldn't be too hard. They had a boat and a case of aconite beer. It's the epitome of guy time, although, apparently last year Cora had gone too and caught the most fish. The others didn't like to talk about that. 

“Lydia has enrolled Ainsley in ballet classes,” Jackson was saying as he slowly reeled in his bobber, trying to make his bait seem really enticing. “I got to admit she looks really cute in a tutu.” He smiled the smile of a dad, and everyone chuckled in response. “I'm trying to convince Lydia to let me enroll her in swimming classes in the summer.”

“We've put Riley in tae kwon do classes,” Boyd said, just leaning back and watching his line as he nursed a can of beer. “He's only an orange belt right now, but his instructor said that for someone that is only three years old, that's pretty impressive.”

“I tried to convince Lydia to let Ainsley go into karate or tae kwon do, but she said she didn't want to bog her down with activities. Somehow ballet won out. I don't think that I got a word in during that discussion.” Jackson sipped his beer, looking just a little dejected. 

“Rena joined the Girl Scouts,” Grayson piped up, and everyone looked at him. “So, if anyone needs like ten boxes of cookies, let me know.”

“If I buy enough boxes of Thin Mints to survive the apocalypse again, Lydia's going to take my Porsche away. She hates it when I take up the whole freezer with them,” Jackson said with a grin. “But totally put me down for like five anyway. I'm so down for that.”

Grayson had to laugh, pulling out his phone to put down a note. As he was doing so, Scott asked for a few boxes of Tagalongs. Peter wanted a box of Samoas for himself and some Trefoils for Deucalion. Boyd also wanted Thin Mints. And Derek would get back to him, because he needed to ask Stiles and the kids. 

After that everyone fell into easy conversation again. Grayson looked over the chilly water, pulling his jacket a little tighter around himself even though he wasn't cold. He was thinking, and it was a subject that had been plaguing him for a while now. He couldn't quite get it off his mind.

“Hey man, you've got something on your line,” Jackson told him, patting his arm. 

“Oh!” Grayson said, pulling on his pole and reeling it in. But, by the time the hook came out of the water, his bait was gone and there was no fish. He frowned.

“Something on your mind?” Jackson asked, opening the bucket of bait and grabbing his line to skewer a half of a minnow on it. Then he tossed it back in the water.

“I guess you could say that,” he said, staring at the water until he realized everyone was watching him expectantly. He could feel his cheeks getting a little warm. “I'm thinking about asking Isaac to marry me.”

“Oh!” Jackson said, before he grinned, clapping Grayson on the shoulder. “That's good! What's with the face, man?”

Grayson shrugged. “I'm not sure if he'll say yes.”

Jackson let out a bark of a laugh, and the others joined in, a chorus of chuckles through the boat. “Please! He's all about you. Of course he'll say yes.”

“Have you seen the way he looks at you?” Scott added, smiling. 

Grayson lifted his hand and scratched through the stubble on his face. He was letting it grow out because Isaac liked to rubbing his palms over it, and he liked the attention. “I don't know. I mean, because of what I did before. He might not be so ready and willing to say yes.”

“It's been over two years since you guys got back together,” Scott said, smiling softly as he said it. “Don't you think that if he thought you were going to leave him again, he would have said something about it by now?” 

Well, if he put it like _that_.

The conversation fell away once Grayson promised he wasn't going to chicken out. Then Jackson, Derek and Boyd got into a competition about who could catch the most. Boyd won, and Jackson complained that he had an inferior pole, even though it was probably the most expensive one.

Grayson vowed to go ring shopping the next day, and he did. Then the next day too. It took him three weeks to get a ring, but hey, at least he eventually found one!

###### 

It was a cold day at the daycare. The kids didn't go out to play because there was frost on the grass and on the jungle gym. Isaac brought out all the extra pillows and blankets and set the kids up in front of the TV, putting on Frosty the Snowman and going into the kitchen to make hot chocolate. He was feeling good about this Christmas season, and he didn't know exactly why.

Things were just good. The daycare was doing well. He and Grayson were doing well. Rena was great. 

Things between him and Grayson were actually more than just good. Living together was turning out to be the best decision he'd ever made. They'd quickly fallen into a routine. Whoever was up first—usually Grayson—went to get Rena up and ready for school. Then whoever got up after—usually Isaac—went and made breakfast. The apartment was never crowded or stuffy, even when they had to stand shoulder to shoulder to brush their teeth in the morning. 

As he was pouring out the hot milk into the Styrofoam cups, Rena came hurrying into the kitchen. “It's almost done, kiddo, promise,” he told her, setting down the pot and starting to stir the milk into the chocolate.

“I have something for you,” she told him, bouncing on her toes and holding her hands behind her back. “From Dad.”

“Really?” he asked, putting the lids on the cups and picking up the straws. “Is it a note?”

“Nope!” she said, before she held out her fist.

Bemused, he finished putting the straws in the lids and put his hand under hers. He was probably sure it was just something silly that Grayson wanted to tease him with. He always used Rena as his little messenger.

But what fell from Rena's hand was a ring. He stared down at it in surprise as Rena giggled. It was two interwoven bands, one silver and the other gold, with a diamond laid in one crease. It was all he could do to just look at it, his mouth falling open wordlessly. 

“Dad said you have to marry him or he'll cry,” Rena said.

“Cry a lot,” came Grayson's voice as he poked his head into the kitchen, before he came in, walking up to Isaac hesitantly. 

“I don't know what to say,” Isaac breathed out, looking back at the ring in his palm. 

“Stab in the dark here,” Grayson said as he picked up the ring and took Isaac's hand, sliding it onto his finger. “But I'm gonna go with 'yes'?” He tipped his head to the side with a smile.

Isaac felt his eyes brimming with tears. The ring fit his finger like it was meant to be there, had been for his whole life. He grabbed Grayson's face and pulled him into a crushing kiss. “Yes. A thousand times yes.” He laughed as Grayson hugged him tight and Rena danced around them joyfully.

“Wait, wait, I want to ask you something else,” Grayson said, and Isaac pulled back to look at him, smiling so hard his face was starting to hurt. “Do you still want to have a baby with me?”

Isaac was dreaming. There was no way this was happening. “Yes,” he whispered.

“Then let's do it.” He lifted Isaac's hand and kissed his ring.

“When?” Isaac asked. “Soon?”

“Whenever you want.”

Isaac was practically bouncing. “As soon as possible!” He jumped into Grayson's arms, knocking him back a step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks forever to [WhatTheHale](http://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthehale) for the super fast read.
> 
> So I decided to download a [wolf template](http://krissyfawx.deviantart.com/art/Wolf-Template-159976952) and color it a billion times according to the wolf colors in the story.  
> They turned out a bit wonky, but my excuse is they are magic, so they get to look special. Shh.  
> [Derek](http://oi61.tinypic.com/1zv4n4k.jpg%22), [Stiles](http://oi61.tinypic.com/1252qoh.jpg), [Talia](http://oi59.tinypic.com/3590js5.jpg), [Johnnie](http://oi62.tinypic.com/vdo7pl.jpg), [Claudia](http://oi57.tinypic.com/k05wuv.jpg).  
> [Scott](http://oi59.tinypic.com/2w3waiu.jpg), [Allison](http://oi57.tinypic.com/iw5hxv.jpg), [Zoe](http://oi61.tinypic.com/2d8rq0w.jpg), [Tony](http://oi60.tinypic.com/287dr9s.jpg).  
> [Isaac](http://oi60.tinypic.com/201um9.jpg), [Grayson](http://oi58.tinypic.com/2gvkbqw.jpg), [Rena](http://oi59.tinypic.com/2web7f7.jpg).  
> [Peter](http://oi57.tinypic.com/2n6cabk.jpg), [Deucalion](http://oi58.tinypic.com/9bhlzo.jpg).  
> I'll color the others upon request.
> 
> This story's probably going on hiatus for a while so I can work on other projects. But I have plotted out to the end, so it will be finished eventually.


End file.
